Stage 3 – Puerto Madryn to Jacobacci
Again both Gary and Philip finished today’s gruelling 694.56 km successfully. Conditions were fast and extremely dusty which meant visibility was very poor with the trucks and the cars tearing up the route. Philip prefers a much more technical course and since the special today was the second longest of the rally it’s not surprising that they are tired this evening. Philip ran out of petrol 50km before the end and was helped by a local Argentinian farmer who syphened some petrol from his tractor to get Philip to the finish. Lots of autograph signing ensued and Philip was delighted to reach the end!! Both men are loving the hospitality of the locals and the support along the route. Both are off for showers, some food and back to the tent for some well deserved sleep to do it all again at 5am tomorrow morning. Despite the length of today’s ride both Philip and Gary are holding their positions in 139th and 119th position respectively – that means Philip has moved up 89 positions since Day 1 and Gary has moved up 87 positions. 4 more days of new and interesting terrain before they have a full rest day on Friday – they reckon they’ll deserve a beer(just one of course!) each on that day so onwards and upwards for Team Dakar Ireland.
News from the official Dakar site was that ‘Pending validation, Spanish rider Marc Coma (KTM) easily won this 3rd stage, 17’49″ ahead of his team mate and countryman Jordi Viladoms (KTM) and Norway’s Pal-Anders Ullevalseter (KTM), both tieing in 2nd place. The third fastest time of the stage goes to France’s David Casteu (KTM) checking 18’16″ behind the winner. By a way of consequence, in the overall rankings, Coma now has a 39’11″ lead over Frenchman David Frétigné (Yamaha), also leader in the 450cc category and a 41’14″ lead over Dutchman Frans Verhoeven (KTM), who is the leader in the marathon category’
January 6th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Well done guys, keep it up. Great to hear you’re being supported along the way. Good luck over the coming week. Team Fluid Rock
January 6th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Hello Boys,
Ruth in Dublin’s Fluid Rock is an old friend. I drove to Chile too 4×4 but from California. Glad to see you are getting through the Welsh country. Give a shout if you come back to Buenos Aires afterwards if you need anything. I live here and shall e at your service.
Good luck and don’t break anything !
Tony Phillips
January 8th, 2009 at 10:47 am
Hi Philip, hi Gary
Well done! You have another friend in Buenos Aires, and of course, at your service when you’ll be back
Roberto