Peugeot’s Cyril Despres and David Castera set best time on Stage 3, from Ufa ( Russia) to Kostanay (Kazakhstan), to take the overall lead of the 2016 Silk Way Rally.
Monday’s 200.43km stage saw Cyril Despres and David Castera move to the top of the leader-board in the N°104 PEUGEOT 2008 DKR. It is the first time in Cyril’s brief career on four wheels that the Peugeot Sport driver has led a cross-country rally.
Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena soon found themselves running first on the road after the day’s two front-running crews came to a stop on the stage. It was a big challenge for the Franco-Monegasque pair, especially as the correct route was often obscured by tall grass. The crew of the N°12 PEUGEOT 2008 DKR coped well and claimed third place.
After winning Saturday’s super-special in Kazan on July 9, Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret were first going into the day’s race but conceded nine minutes due to a slow puncture and a broken rim.
Type of terrain Dirt and tall grass through forests.
Conditions Numerous junctions and re-acceleration; few straights.
Weather Bright and sunny, no wind, 28°C.
Average speed 103.3kph
Cyril Despres
“I thoroughly enjoyed myself today. The stage was twisty and pretty much stone-free, so it was fun to drive. We made a couple of navigational errors but they didn’t cost us much time. David did a great job. I hope we will see more of the same tomorrow and that we will be able to keep up the same sort of pace as we did today.”
Sébastien Loeb
“My car performed well and we didn’t have any problems whatsoever. After Stéphane and Vasilyev stopped, we found ourselves running first on the road. There was a lot of tall grass and it wasn’t always easy to spot the correct track. We made a few mistakes but we didn’t take any risks. We mustn’t lose sight of the fact that our objective is to clock up as many kilometres as possible and also find a pace that suits us without overdoing it.”
Stéphane Peterhansel
“We picked up a slow puncture shortly after the start of the stage. We decided not to change the wheel but then we had to stop because of another puncture. It was a very interesting stage and technically quite challenging. Like most crews, we made a few navigational mistakes like others competitors. Things will be better tomorrow.”
Overall positions after Leg 3
1. Cyril Despres (FRA) / David Castera (FRA), PEUGEOT 2008 DKR, 1h58min24s
2. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU) / Timo Gottschalk (DEU), Mini, +2min37s
3. Sébastien Loeb (FRA) / Daniel Elena (MC), PEUGEOT 2008 DKR, +4min10s
4. Vladimir Vasilyev (RUS) / Konstantin Zhiltsov (RUS), Mini, +5min11s
5. Evgeny Firsov (RUS) / Vadim Filatov, Toyota Pick-up, 6min40s
8. Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA) / Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA), PEUGEOT 2008 DKR, +8min52s