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| Porsche Cayennes Lead Transsyberia Rallye into Asia |
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The North American Team #2 of Jeff Zwart/Paul Dallenbach was sixth after stage one, but dropped out of the top ten because of the infamous water hole that snagged about half the field. Zwart said that, despite the nasty conditions that faced the competitors today, he and Paul were looking forward to the stage today.
We had all gone through winch' training early this morning, and were prepareds to take on the mud. Paul and I were especially anxious to get back into the top group after Saturday's slow time due to the water hole, so we'll just have to wait for the next special stage to catch up, said Zwart.
The Kees Nierop/Laurance Yap North America Team #1 Cayenne is also looking to make up time as they fell out of the top ten from fourth place after sinking in the water hole.
Armin Schwarz summarized Monday's transit.
At first we were disappointed the special stage was cancelled - I think our adrenaline and motivation levels were at full revs. The transit leg to Tyumen was not particularly fast but demanding. We crossed rivers with improvised bridges made out of tree trunks and there were many possibilities of sustaining punctures or falling into a deep pothole.
While they are not scoring competition points on the transits, the competitors are still being timed, and must make checkpoints and other pre-determined destinations within specific time windows. Mechanical failures, flat tire, and driving mistakes - all possible on these less-than-modern roads - will put competitors behind.
Tuesday's route from Tyumen on 7th August leads towards the south-east. After almost 600 kilometres of navigating the teams will reach the destination of Omsk. The event is now more that 1,600 miles east of Moscow and at about 73 degrees East. Ulan Bator in Mongolia is at around 107 degrees East, so there is still a very long way to go.
Results on the Web
For further information on the 2008 Porsche Cayenne Transsyberia vehicle, go to: www.porsche.com/all/Transsyberia2007/international.aspx. For additional information on the 2007 edition of the Transsyberia Rallye, including the latest standings, go to: www.Transsyberia-rallye.de. Updates on Team North America's progress - including photos - can be seen on the Porsche web site http://www.porsche.com/usa/eventsandracing/motorsport/news/
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