MEDIA INFORMATION
Baja Aragon Spain
FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies, round 6
July 24-26, 2015
For immediate release
Sunday, July 26th, 2015
EMIL KHNEISSER FINISHES FOURTH IN T2 AT BAJA SPAIN
ARAGON IN NISSAN MIDDLE EAST-BACKED PATROL
· Italian Elvis Borsoi beats series leader Denis Berezovskiy to T2 victory
TERUEL (SPAIN): Abu Dhabi-based Lebanese driver Emil Khneisser maintained his determined challenge for the T2 World Championship, held in conjunction with the 2015 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies, by finishing fourth overall at the punishing three-day Baja Spain Aragon.
Running with support for his Nissan Patrol from Nissan Middle East, Khneisser had climbed to third in the T2 category after the first of Saturday’s two selective sections before slipping back to fifth through the punishing 305.56km of the third stage after suffering steering issues following an impact.
He began the final stage of 181.11km on Sunday morning trailing the fourth-placed Italian Carmine Salvi by two minutes and knew that a measured drive without mistakes was in order if he was to steer his Nissan Patrol back towards a podium finish.
Khneisser recorded a time of 2hr 53min 17sec on that final stage and that was nearly 10 minutes quicker that the time set by his main T2 title rival Denis Berezovskiy and was sufficient for Khneisser to reach the finish in fourth, after Salvi was delayed on the final stage and slipped to sixth.
“It was a long and hard rally but it was a successful day today,” said Khneisser. “There were 32 cars in front of me and I wanted to enjoy the stage and pass as many as I could. I achieved my target and am happy that I finished another European race. After the problems I had on Saturday, fourth place is more than perfect as a finish for me.
“The Nissan Patrol has again been very strong and reliable. The broken steering line we had on Saturday could have happened to any car over this terrain. I have also strengthened my grip on second position in T2 and built a gap between me and third place. I still have a good chance to catch Denis, but I knew that I needed to finish here.”
Italian driver Elvis Borsoi hit the front of the T2 category on Saturday’s second stage and maintained that lead to the finish in Teruel. Borsoi clocked a final stage time of 2hr 52min 06sec and that ensured that he beat T2 championship leader and runner-up Denis Berezovskiy by just under 12 minutes.
The outcome means that Berezovskiy edges a little further ahead of Khneisser in the T2 points’ standings heading to the next round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies in Hungary in August.
2015 Baja Spain Aragon – T2 final positions (unofficial):
1. Elvis Borsoi (ITA)/Stefano Rossi (ITA) Mitsubishi Pajero 10hr 25min 49sec
2. Denis Berezovskiy (KAZ)/Ignat Falkov (KAZ) Nissan Patrol 10hr 37min 41sec
3. Alberto Dorsch (ESP)/Marcos Martinez (ESP) Toyota Landcruiser 10hr 55min 55sec
4. Emil Khneisser (ARE)/Alexei Kuzmich (RUS) Nissan Patrol 10hr 57min 23sec
5. Aldis Vilcans (LVA)/Vadim Shmayloc (RUS) Ford Raptor 11hr 04min 02sec
6. Carmine Salvi (ITA)/Lucio Salvi (ITA) Mitsubishi Pajero 11hr 12min 09sec
7. Jose Guillermo Villaneuva (ESP)/Santiago Bravo (ESP) Toyota Land Cruiser 11hr 14min 12sec
Ends