Strong show from Argentine Alvarez in arid Atacama 17.01.2014: Stage 11 – 16 January 2014 Antofagasta to El Salvador (Chile) Stage distance: Liaison: 144km, Special Stage: 605km, Total: 749km

Stage 11 – 16 January 2014
Antofagasta to El Salvador (Chile)
Stage distance: Liaison: 144km, Special Stage: 605km, Total: 749km




Team Ford Racing’s Lucio Alvarez and Ronnie Graue displayed the speed and strength of their Ranger when they claimed their second consecutive top 10 finish on the longest and toughest stage of the Dakar Rally today.


The Argentine duo finished eighth in the daunting 11th stage from Antofagasta to El Salvador in Chile. The 749km stage included a marathon 605km competitive section, the longest unbroken test in the rally.


After a 144km liaison section, the day’s competition offered pretty much everything the Dakar Rally has in one single test. In temperatures that topped 30°C, dirt roads, mine tracks and dry river beds were an appetiser for 120km of sand in the arid Atacama Desert, including the famous Copiapo dunes.


After finishing ninth yesterday, Alvarez made the most of an advantageous start position to power the Ranger through the early checkpoints in sixth.


He maintained a strong pace through the afternoon in the sand to come home strongly, despite stopping to change a rear left puncture just 40km from the finish.


After spending more than six exhausting hours behind the wheel, Alvarez was 35min 38sec behind stage winners Orlando Terranova / Paulo Fiuza. The Ford pilot maintained the recovery from his time loss early in the 9300km, 14-day event to climb from 28th to 22nd.


Such has been the demanding nature of this year’s event that of the 152 cars which departed the Rosario start in Argentina 12 days ago, only 49 started today.  
   

Lucio Alvarez (308): “The car worked well all day. The only occasion in which we lost time was though a puncture near the finish, which, in such a long and hard stage, is fantastic. Another top 10 finish is encouraging and that’s where we should be! There were many fast sections with big stones, which were tough for the car, but we cleared them cleanly and safely.


“Physically it was hard too. In the bumps my back suffered but we train all year for this. It was such a long stage that it was hard to maintain concentration. In the slow sections where it’s vital to read the road carefully, you need to forget everything in the mind and focus totally on the road. Then in the fast parts, it’s full attack.”



Neil Woolridge (Team Manager – Neil Woolridge Motorsport / Ford Racing):    “We knew this would be the toughest, longest and most stressful day of the rally and the car came through with flying colours. Lucio had absolutely no problems at all which proves the toughness of the Ranger and that’s something we knew all along.


“I was delighted to see the car’s colours come into the bivouac tonight. We know we have a good car and to come through a stage like this with nothing wrong makes the team feel proud.


“We know we need to do some more development work on the car because I don’t think it’s quite where it should be yet. We can improve the engine and we can remove some weight from the car, but that’s the exciting part with the project because there is much more to come.”





Tomorrow’s action:

Friday’s penultimate day of competition takes competitors from El Salvador to La Serena. There will be no chance for drivers to ease their way into the day as the competitive section begins right at the exit of the bivouac.


The 350km test begins with 200km of action on dirt tracks before a final flurry in the Atacama as the final 150km cross the dunes for the last time. A 349km liaison section takes the cars to La Serena.



Mark Wilford, photos Team Ford Racing