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South African privateers Mark Corbett and co-driver Francois Jordaan have climbed way through the ranks over the first two days of Corbett's first Dakar Rally - from 60th at the start to 17th at the end of the second day.
Their Century Racing CR4 buggy, a two-wheel drive special with a Toyota V8 engine, was 33min41 behind the day's winner, 2011 Dakar champion Nasser al-Attiyah of Qatar and 38min19 behind race leader Stephane Peterhansel in his all-wheel drive Mini.
'VERY ENCOURAGED'
“We had another good day today,” said a very happy Corbett. “The 295km stage from Santa Rosa de la Pampa to San Rafael was very fast for the first half and then we had to negotiate some tricky grey sand dunes that are a feature of this volcanic area.
"We had no problems, Francois did a great job of guiding us through the dunes, and the CR4 never missed a beat.
“We’re very encouraged with the team’s performance so far, but we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves. There’s still a long way to go and we’ll continue to take it one day at a time. The primary objective is to finish.”
HEADING FOR THE HILLS
Fellow South Africans Giniel de Villiers and Duncan Vos, driving two Toyota Hilux V8 bakkies, are fourth and 18th overall respectively.
Special stage three iin Argentina, 293km from San Rafael to San Juan, promises river crossings, many holes and stones approaching the Andes foothills on their way to a high-altitude crossing into Chile on January 6.
Their Century Racing CR4 buggy, a two-wheel drive special with a Toyota V8 engine, was 33min41 behind the day's winner, 2011 Dakar champion Nasser al-Attiyah of Qatar and 38min19 behind race leader Stephane Peterhansel in his all-wheel drive Mini.
'VERY ENCOURAGED'
“We had another good day today,” said a very happy Corbett. “The 295km stage from Santa Rosa de la Pampa to San Rafael was very fast for the first half and then we had to negotiate some tricky grey sand dunes that are a feature of this volcanic area.
"We had no problems, Francois did a great job of guiding us through the dunes, and the CR4 never missed a beat.
“We’re very encouraged with the team’s performance so far, but we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves. There’s still a long way to go and we’ll continue to take it one day at a time. The primary objective is to finish.”
HEADING FOR THE HILLS
Fellow South Africans Giniel de Villiers and Duncan Vos, driving two Toyota Hilux V8 bakkies, are fourth and 18th overall respectively.
Special stage three iin Argentina, 293km from San Rafael to San Juan, promises river crossings, many holes and stones approaching the Andes foothills on their way to a high-altitude crossing into Chile on January 6.