Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret smash the fastest time on the 6th stage of Silk Way Rally. As they look to recover lost ground, they crossed the finish line with a comfortable 15-min cushion over teammates Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena.- The Peugeot DKR Maxi keep its overall lead despite another challenging day in terms of navigation, completed in 2nd position. Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena set second-fastest time on today’s stage, having caught up Cyril Despres after 200km. However, they went the wrong way a few times to lose more than 10min in the last 100 kilometres of the stage.
- Running first on the road after yesterday’s victory, Cyril Despres/ David Castera have had a tougher task than anybody in finding the correct route. They finish 9th on the stage, 31 minutes slower than Peterhansel, but retain second overall.
DATAS OF THE STAGE
Maximum Speed: 187hp/h
Minimum / Maximum Speed: 20 / 27°C
Type of terrain: high grass, moutains
QUOTE / UNQUOTE
Stéphane PETERHANSEL, Team Peugeot Total Drive
Winner of stage #6 Silk Way Rally / 10th overall (car)
“The stage today was the most beautiful that we have seen on the entire rally so far. It started off on the Steppes and then in the middle of the stage it was a mountain: really, amazing landscapes! Our Peugeot was good; there were no problems for us today. We started 24th on the road so we had to do a lot of overtaking of other cars and trucks as well, which could sometimes be quite complicated. For me, my objective now is just to help my Peugeot Total teammates if I can. Personally speaking, I’m only really interested in winning, so from a sporting point of view it’s maybe not so interesting for me now but I still have an important role to play for Peugeot. I think that hopefully we can still get into the top five.”
Sébastien LOEB, Pilote Team Peugeot Total
2nd of stage #6 Silk Way Rallty / 1 st overall
“We ended up driving behind Cyril from km200 onwards. The navigation was very tricky again today, we spent so much time looking for the right way! Ourselves and Cyril both made some mistakes, taking it in turns to get lost. Also, the trucks in front of us had left the wrong marks, and that caused us some trouble as well. With all of that, we lost quite a chunk of time in the final section. On the whole, it’s not a drama but it still wasn’t great.”
Cyril DESPRES, Pilote Team Peugeot Total
9th of stage #6 Silk Way Rally / 2nd overall
“This was a really beautiful stage in the mountains, but it’s always very hard to be first on the road. So yes, we made some navigational mistakes, but we expected the day to be tough! It wasn’t an easy end to the stage with Sébastien, because one after other we ended up heading in the wrong direction. Still we’ve got good pace so we need to carry on this way. I need to give my best tomorrow to make sure we build on our second place in the overall classification.”
TOMORROW STAGE #7
Tomorrow’s route travels 412 kilometres from Urdzhar to Karamay, crossing the border into China, where dunes will become more of a feature. The special stage lasts 106 kilometres, and takes place in more beautiful landscapes with both hills and plenty of vegetation.
DID YOU KNOW?
Kazakhstan has the most important economy in Central Asia, generating around 60% of the region’s GDP. Much of this comes from its large oil and gas industry. It’s also famous for the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the home of Russia’s space programme, close to the border with Uzbekistan.
