Elisabete Jacinto crossing the dunes near Ksar Ghilane
Elisabete Jacinto was brilliant at the start of the 30th edition of the Tunisian Rally, a competition valid for the Cross-Country World Cup, where she was fastest among trucks during the 1st streak run today between Tozeur and Ksar Ghilane, with a time which at the end of the day gave her access to the Top 10 in the car/truck joint classification.
“To begin with, it was a streak with a lot of sand, some rather long ergs to cross, where we always lost some time in comparison with cars, and other particularly hard places. It was no easy start, but after all it went well for us. We lost some time when our MAN hung on a dune, and we also had the disadvantage of having to follow an alternative course to avoid a ‘chott’. I understand why the organization was worried and made such a choice, but the 15 minutes we spent climbing and descending dunes, while cars were on a straight course, prevented us from getting a better general classification”, stresses Elisabete Jacinto, who is only 10 minutes away from the 6th place, occupied by one of the three BMWs from X-raid team.
Tomorrow, the second streak is run, a 206 kilometres selective sector boucle south of Ksar Ghilane. A 100% sand streak, with a 100% new course, where sand is seen all around. The organization guarantees it followed the course with a T2 vehicle and with a strictly production line vehicle: It is possible to go through… even if shovels and slabs may be necessary. The end of the streak is near the bivouac.
1st streak classification
- 1st Novitskiy/Schulz (BMW), in 3h25m02s;
- 2nd Schlesser/Zhiltsov (Buggy), with 1m43s more;
- 3rd Roma/Perin (BMW), with 2m44s more;
- 4th Zapletal/Ourednicek (BMW), with 26m13s more;
- 5th Tonetti/Lurquin (Nissan), with 45m51s more;
- 6th Garafulic/Lichtleuchter (BMW), with 1h36m28s more;
- … 10th Elisabete Jacinto/Charly Gotlib/Marco Cochinho (MAN), 1st truck, with 1h46m42s more.
