G-Energy Team в Польше: броды, реки и ралли на полигоне[:en]G-Energy Team in Poland: fords, rivers and rallying at the military range
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Today the crews had to overcome two identical special stages, 220 kilometers each, with the possibility of a day service between them.
Off-road competitions in this region have been taking place on the territory of military ranges for several years; it is possible to build a route of any configuration there. The downside of such route is the coverage for all the crews who start after the first ten – the bumpy roads and the deep rut are not the best things anyone would like to see being at the wheel of racing vehicle even if it is well prepared for off-road.
After the ceremony of choosing the starting positions for those who finished in the top 10 yesterday, at the first stage of the Baja, Vladimir Vasilyev was on the fourth line and this morning he started after Krzysztof Holowczyk, Jakub Przygonski and Martin Prokop. In the same order the crews continued to move both at the first and second stages until they encountered a problem – local residents, waiting for a spectacle, arranged a “show” for themselves damming a small river. Krzysztof Holowczyk was forced to stop, as the water level rose significantly; and Jakub Przygonski had to drive round him. The next crew of Martin Prokop spent a lot of time to overcome no longer a ford, but a river; Vladimir Vasilyev faced the same problem and he needed help.
Vladimir Vasilyev, driver, “The Polish Baja is usually a tough race at a tank range. “Pit-three”, “jump-three”, “pit-two”, “jump-two” and so on, the whole track is cut-twisted around the range. There are no big problems with the tyres here as, for example, in Spain, where the route is stony. At the second stage local spectators decided to play with us – they dammed the river, and the water rose probably by a meter there. We were stuck in a river, they towed us. There was a car with a winch, that is the organizers clearly foresaw that not everyone could drive there. We lost a lot of time”. Konstantin Zhiltsov, co-driver, “Everything was fine after the first pass. In my opinion there were no problems with the car; only ten kilometers to the finish line it became uncomfortable to pass the left turns – we realized that the tyre started to deflate. A traditional Polish range that local participants know by heart, and they are always the fastest here. The second stage was on the same track, where there were ruts after the first pass. We started well and caught the dust of Martin Prokop quickly, but then got into the dam that was made in the ford by locals. And there was such a bumpy sandy bottom; we went there, but couldn’t get out, so they pulled us with the winch. Prokop and Przygonski managed to slip through this ford, and the rest of us got stuck… Well, it is not a race, when you fight for seconds, and locals let you down…”
As a result, after the first stage of the day the Russians were on the third position overall, but after the “water park” they had to cede the third place and a minute and a half to Martin Prokop, and drop one line in the final protocol.
Now the race leader Jakub Przygonski and Vladimir Vasilyev are separated by almost 14 minutes, but tomorrow the participants will tackle four very short, almost rallying stages with a total length of 58 kilometers, that is not so long according to raid standards. Nevertheless, in technical sports, one can never be sure and predict the outcome of a battle.
Results after SS-3