Al Rajhi wins Silk Way Rally

July 30, 2018 0 Comments

Yazeed Al Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk have won the 2018 Silk Way Rally in a Dakar-spec MINI John Cooper Works Rally.

After starting the final section in Russia with a big lead, the MINI Motorsport driver finally completed the Silk Way Rally in a time of 23hrs 49mins 14secs – over an hour ahead of second placed Nasser Al-Attiyah/Mathieu Baumel, who’d suffered rear differential problems in their Toyota Hilux on the marathon stage. Mathieu Serradori/Fabian Lurquin completed the podium in their MCM Original buggy.

Harry Hunt/Sebastien Delaunay led the event at mid-distance before their Peugeot 3008 DKR Maxi suffered first with suspension and then with oil pressure problems and were twice forced to wait for their rapid assistance truck. They lost several hours in the process and picked up over 101 hours of penalties.

“We are delighted with having won the Silk Way Rally although it was somewhat shorter than originally scheduled,” said Al Rajhi.

“The event was perfectly organised and the special stages represented true challenges, while the weather certainly could have been better. We demonstrated that you needn’t to try to win special stages to win a rally – concentration and consistency also are crucial factors. We found a good rhythm and knew which stages offered us the opportunity to push and gain time and where we should opt for a more conservative approach.”