Most of rally-raids fans must have already found the results of today's Super Special stage, either on our web-site, or on the site of the Baja's organisers. But there's a story behind those numbers in the classification...

Actually, some results may seem unexpected, and some events during the stage are worth additional mentioning. Let's start in the order. Start order, of course. And according to it it were the leaders of the FIA International Cup for Cross-Country Bajas Boris Gadasin and Vladimir Demyanenko to open the road. It might be a honourable duty, but not always the winning one, at least not in this particular case. Unfortunately in some parts of the track its asphalt surface was covered with a thin layer of slippery gravel, which made first cars slide a lot. Just have a look at the pictures below, and you'll understand the difference in traction between the first crews and those who were running later.

But it was a little miscalculation of fuel on board that made the biggest influence on the eventual result of the G-Force Motorsport crew. In order to make the car as llight as possible it was decided not to fill the tank with much fuel. However in the hot conditions it vapored faster than usual, and at one moment the engine started stalling, which wasn't really comfortable, especially out of the corners, when acceleration was needed. However, everybody understands that you can't win a race on a superspecial, so the main thing is that the crew was left satisfied with their car's behaviour and considered they start position for tomorrow quite appropriate.

One of the race's main favourites - BMW X-Raid crews - posted 4 best results of the stage. Moreover, the best time was shown by the German squad's "newcomer" Stephane Peterhansel, who finished ahead of his team-mates Felipe Campos, Guerlain Chicherit and Nani Roma. All four drivers deserved their places - they were driving really fast and smoothly. Our team's good friend Rui Sousa must have also hoped for a decent result in his Isuzu prototype, however some engine woes took a toll on these plans. He had to slow down closer to the end of stage and finally was passed by the chargning pole Krzysztof Holowczyc, who set 5th best time in this prologue.

Jean-Louis Schlesser was only 16th. As was predicted, the twisty roads of the Motorland stadium's track didn't suit his buggy car, and the frenchman lost a lot of time going sideways in corners. But such a spectacular drive was definitely praised by many fans who gathered uphill the track and emotionally followed the titled driver's performance. Our guest to the "Northern Forest" Baja Giovanni Manfrinato also wasn't very successful as the Italian took only 20th place in the classification. However, he was cheered up leaving the evening service on his way to the overnight Parc Ferme, and it means the crew stays positive for the rest of the race.

The second G-Force Motorsport crew, nicknamed Fast и Ronin, approached the stage in a relaxed manner. According to their words, they "were admiring a beautiful landscape and were smelling flowers growing along the road". Yet it didn't prevent them from setting 4th best time in the T2 category. Now we're all wondering where to find such helpful flowers to keep the crew fired for the whole race. If I had known it during my transfer flight through Amsterdam on my way to the race, I would have stayed in Holland for a bit longer... Well, enough for jokes, tomorrow is a difficult day with two long special stages. And everything will be decided there.

Once again we want to praise the Organisers' efforts in running the race. They attracted a lot of spectators to the hills around the track, and it's very important for such a big event as a round of the International Cup for Bajas. They also take care of the participants. Many thanks to the local police for providing assistance on roads and keeping their eyes shut in some difficult situations like finding a place for parking or turning in the wrong direction. And it's not ofthen that a policeman smiles to me and wishes a good luck, and here in Zaragoza I start to get used to such pleasant things...

Igor Chervonny

Official web-site: www.bajaspain.com
results ONLINE - http://www.masrallye.com/bajaragonindex.html
All news on our web-site GFM-News.