Rally-Raid – Peterhansel drives the point home in China

The fifth stage of Silk Road Rally disputed in China once again allowed Stephane Peterhansel to stand out behind the wheel of the Peugeot DKR2008. Between Eji Naqi and Alxa Youqi, and on the longest special of the event, 272 kilometers, the Lion driver won the scratch by more than five minutes ahead of his teammate Cyril Despres.

« These 270 km were not very demanding for men and machines. The ground was not very rough. On the other hand, it was varied: fast, with dunes, poops, a little technical, mountainous, etc.

We drove at a brisk pace. There were the tracks of the motorbikes accentuated by the rain, which allowed us to confirm the navigation, especially when we had a little hesitation! Over the entire special, we had 80% rain and almost cold!

Then we made a quick stop to remove a bird stuck in the windshield wiper. Apart from that, nothing to report. We are consolidating our lead but it is not easy to make big differences over the 641 km covered since the start. » specifies the Frenchman.

Overall, Peterhansel's lead over Despres reached the quarter-hour mark. Han Wei places his Haval in third position, almost seven minutes behind Despres and ahead of Christian Lavieille (Haval).

ES5 classification (Provisional):

1. Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret – Peugeot 2008 DKR 2hr 49min 42sec
2. Cyril Despres/David Castera – Peugeot 2008 DKR 2hr 55min 05sec
3. Han Wei/Pan Hong Yu – Haval 3hr 01min 36sec
4. Christian Lavieille/Jean-Pierre Garcin – Haval 3hr 02min 38sec
5. Wei Hong Jin/Guo Jun – Xiongfeng Buggy 3hr 02min 42sec
6. Lui Kun/Liao – Mitsubishi Pajero MPR11 3hr 05min 02sec
7. Liu Yan Gui/Sha He – Mitsubishi Panda L200 3hr 20min 24sec

General Classification after SS5 (Provisional):

1. Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret – Peugeot 2008 DKR 7hr 21min 15sec
2. Cyril Despres/David Castera – Peugeot 2008 DKR 7hr 37min 10sec
3. Han Wei/Pan Hong Yu – Haval 7hr 44min 09sec
4. Christian Lavieille/Jean-Pierre Garcin – Haval 7hr 52min 42sec
5. Liu Yan Gui/Sha He – Mitsubishi L200 8hr 15min 01sec
6. Lui Kun/Liao – Mitsubishi Pajero MPR11 8hr 23min 11sec