The Portuguese driver Elisabete Jacinto finished this Tuesday, January 6th, in 4th position among trucks, which was the largest selective sector of this Africa Eco Race 2015. 433 timed kilometers were completed, between Chami and Azougi, in Mauritania, from a particularly difficult special for the heavy T4.
The passages through soft sand tracks were a constant, a factor that prevented the Portuguese team from setting a more efficient pace that, as a rule, it manages to achieve.
Even so, the OLEOBAN® team formed by Elisabete Jacinto, José Marques and Marco Cochinho finished the seventh special of the rally in 5:38:59, securing the 8th position in the car/truck joint table of the race, which, overall, is led by Russian Anton Shibalov, KAMAZ team pilot.
Despite the difficulties, Elisabete Jacinto, who in previous editions of this great African marathon has always had complications in this type of route, reveals that this journey was remarkable: “when we enter the desert of Mauritania we already know that the soft sand tracks will not give us any respite . But, despite having been a very hard day, everything went beautifully for us. Today we walked through areas of dunes that are very complicated to traverse. However, we managed to get through them all flawlessly and without wasting any time. I can even say that it was an unprecedented stage”.
The Portuguese pilot added: “we had never passed through this region without grabbing the shovel and today we didn't spend a single second digging. We rolled at the maximum speed we could, taking into account the unfavorable surface for the characteristics of our truck, and we are very satisfied with our performance”.
This Wednesday marks the eighth day of the Africa Race 2015 race and will undoubtedly be one of the most remembered of the entire rally. The stage is 100% new and starts and ends in the same place: Azougi.
With a selective sector of 358 kilometers, the journey will not be easy. Sandy slopes will dominate the route that takes competitors to iconic locations such as Adrar, near Chingetti and Ouadane.
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