Three-Wheel Drive Deprived Kolomý of Third Stage Victory!
The pilot of the TATRA Buggyra Racing team again managed to squeeze between Russian KAMAZs and end the stage in the second rank with just a minimum loss after the leading Russian pilot Nikolaev. This brought his score closer to the podium ranks.
The 10th stage over 500 km long including a 360-km-long measured section started in the city of Hami with the finish in the city of Donhuang. The tempo of the very quick and technically demanding stage was set by the pilot of the TATRA Buggyra Racing team Martin Kolomý. However, at the end of the special section his front tyre broke and he had to ride on three wheels for a whole 15 kilometres, remembering the Dakar rally, where he had a similar incident. That way he reached the finish in the second rank with only one and a half minutes after the Russian pilot Nikolaev, who overtook him in the final section of the race. “Perhaps the nicest stage so far, both for me and for our Phoenix. Really beautiful, and technical, which we like most. I am not surprised that we led the field, even in front of all the KAMAZs. Unfortunately, 15 kilometres before the finish one front tyre did not hold together any longer and so we repeated the three-wheel ride we had staged once at Dakar. I regret a little, for we would certainly have reduced our loss after the KAMAZs, but still my feelings are very positive about it. We improved our spirits after the yesterday´s hits and bangs and I am already looking forward for tomorrow,“ were the comments of the native of Bruntál about his second shortest time. In the overall ranking he holds the fourth rank, behind three pilots of the Russian team, but after today´s performance his loss to be made up for to reach the podium has been reduced to mere 42 seconds. “It is incredible, after the nearly 3 thousand kilometres of the race to be so close to the podium. In addition even the overall victory is not lost yet. What is half an hour in the dunes now waiting for us? We believe good luck will be with us till the complete finish,“ mentioned Kolomý his loss after the leading pilot Sotnikov with KAMAZ, separating him from the interim leader by exactly 30 minutes and 30 seconds.
Tomorrow the pilots will cover the route of the next stage from the city of Donhuang to the city of Jiayuguan in total length of 783 kilometres. The specific of this stage is the longest measured section of the whole Silk Way rally in the length of 488 kilometres divided to two parts. The first again in the dunes and the second on the quick pista.
