Breslau Rally 2013, Day 5

Today’s stage was 210km. A rather fast track with a few mud pits. We had a chance to ride in the press car again, so we got to see many of the highlights.

The mud racer of Bretons Cedric Porcher and Damien Kermorvant won the stage.

Sylvain and Gaby had a good day. After being forced to abandon yesterday, they ended up 60th to start, but managed to finish 3rd in the stage. Quite an impressive come-back, although they still have a few problems with the transmission and a few concerns about the front axle to check this evening.

The mechanics just finished changing one of the drive shafts a little while ago.

We had a chance to talk with the Svoboda Tatra Team at the bivouac. After rescuing a Mercedes that rolled over in the first 10 km of the stage, they went on to win and are currently in 4th place for the trucks and 8th place overall.

We exchanged information about rally plans and had a tour of their Tatra, with it’s particular architecture. It looks like a Jamal with the torpedo cabin, but there are some differences. For example the engine is set farther toward the rear than the Jamal.

Tomorrow should be another fast stage, but we don’t know yet how long it will be. It’s been a challenging course so far this year, and the orga may shorten the stage by ending at one of the CPs to give the racers a rest. Friday comes the long Hannibal stage and the move to the second bivouac in Zagan.

The first cars will start around 9am. Since the stage will be fast, the motorcycles will start quite a bit earlier to avoid being overtaken by too many cars along the way.