What appeared to be a procedural stage has been full of traps for the participants of the Dakar Argentina Chile 2011. With more difficulties than expected, the members of the Guardia Civil Rallye Raid team have completed the stage and continue in competition. José Manuel Salinero and José Manuel Galán have had to be very aware of the car's temperature throughout the day.
The fourth stage of the Dakar Argentina Chile has passed between the cities of San Salvador de Jujuy and Calama. 207 timed kilometers and more than 550 kilometers of link, have put the mechanics of the vehicles to the test. A mountainous stage that has developed on stony tracks and has served for the participants to set foot on Chilean soil for the first time in this edition.
The Guardia Civil Rallye Raid team occupied the 89th position in the stage classification with a time of 3 hours, 30 minutes and 56 seconds, losing more than an hour and a half with respect to Carlos Sainz, winner of the fourth stage. This discreet record has caused the Guardia Civil team to lose several positions in the general classification, currently standing in position number 52 with a time of 16:09:20.
The engine temperature has played a trick on the members of the Guardia Civil Rallye Raid team, not being able to run at the speed they would have liked. José Manuel Salinero, pilot of the team, explains that "the temperature of the car has heated up on several occasions during the stage and has forced us to slow down so that the engine does not get too hot. "This Thursday we face a very risky stage and we could not afford to damage the engine", added Salinero.
Once they reached the finish line, the mechanics were the ones who thoroughly examined the car. The mechanics have detected that the cable of one of the fans had been disconnected and that it was causing the temperature of the car not to be cooled. José Manuel Galán, co-pilot of the Guardia Civil Rallye Raid team, argued that "tonight the mechanics have worked hard and have been able to solve the ventilation problems of the car".
The members of the Guardia Civil Rallye Raid team have also had navigation problems, losing several minutes in their attempt to pass next to one of the mandatory checkpoints. For more than an hour they have been going around to find a canyon, once located they have been able to continue on the right track.
On Thursday, the fifth stage of the Dakar Argentina Chile 2011 will be held and will run between the cities of Calama and Iquique, where participants will have to adapt to different terrains and will impose a different type of driving. The stage consists of 423 timed kilometers and 36 kilometers of link. The teams are exposed to stony tracks, high-speed roads and at the end of the stage the dreaded sand dunes will appear. And to conclude they will have to go down a slope of 2.3 kilometers with an average percentage of slope of 32%.
