Peugeot faces mud at the China Silk Road Rally

The Peugeot 2008 DKR performed well in the 10th stage of the China Silk Road Rally, despite the rain which made the course very muddy with numerous cuts and a slippery track. Stéphane Peterhansel won his 6th stage victory in this event by just 19 seconds ahead of Han Wei's Haval. The Peugeot driver could have increased his lead without a misdirection.

“I was a little stressed this morning, especially after the link where we saw wadis in flood. Our 2WD in the mud did not bode well for us. From the start we attacked. The track was slippery but the 2008 DKR performed really well », explained the leader of the China Silk Road Rally. “We came back to Christian Lavieille (Haval) then we got lost. A big mistake in the Road Book caused us to lose almost 7 minutes. We gardened before we had to go back. At the same time Han and Lui (Kun, Mitsubishi Pajero MPR11) arrived and benefited from our route. We attacked a lot to make up time. »

Cyril Desprès made the same mistake and was only able to set the 5th fastest time, almost 5 minutes behind his teammate, but he remains in 2nd position with almost 20 minutes ahead of Han Wei. « Like Stéphane, I was a victim of the Road Book. This is the first time we got lost with David (Castera, the co-pilot). We handled the situation with zen! It was also a great first in the mud. We therefore remained cautious, especially as the mud caused the temperature of the shock absorbers to rise. After the muddy terrain, we were treated to a lot of breakage with bleeding. We are doing well in the evening of this 10th stage. »

SS10 (Provisional)
 
1. Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA)/Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA) Peugeot 2008 DKR 
2. Han Wei (CHN)/Pan Hong Yu (CHN) Haval +0?19
3. Lui Kun (CHN)/Liao (CHN) Mitsubishi Pajero MPR11 +1?56
4. Cyril Despres (FRA)/David Castera (FRA) Peugeot 2008 DKR +4?55
5. Christian Lavieille (FRA)/Jean-Pierre Garcin (FRA) Haval +6?06
 
General Ranking after SS10 (Provisional)
 
1. Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA)/Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA) Peugeot 2008 DKR
2. Cyril Despres (FRA)/David Castera (FRA) Peugeot 2008 DKR +22?56
3. Han Wei (CHN)/Pan Hong Yu (CHN) Haval +41?48
4. Christian Lavieille (FRA)/Jean-Pierre Garcin (FRA) Haval +43?11
5. Lui Kun (CHN)/Liao (CHN) Mitsubishi Pajero MPR11 +1h13:00