Dakar-2019: Tacna – Arequipa Stage

The next morning after the marathon bivouac in Tacna (where, according to the regulations, team mechanics were not allowed for providing technical assistance to the race crews), the sportsmen awaited their return journey to Arequipa and the 452-kilometer special section divided by a 66-kilometer neutralization zone.

A mixed start of cars and trucks was organized, and for spectacularity the organizers also arranged mass start, when the vehicles started the special in pairs: a jeep with a jeep, a truck with a truck.

The stage mostly passed along the channels of dry rivers, and even if it got onto the local unobtrusive paths, it confused the navigators rather than helped.

Bad luck continues to pursue Airat Mardeev’s crew. At 160 km his truck stopped due to problems in the engine air intake system. It took them about an hour to fix the breakdown.

Already after the start, due to heavy fog, the part of today’s stage, that followed the neutralization zone, was canceled. These final 136 kilometers were passed by our crews of E. Nikolaev, D. Sotnikov and A. Karginov. The crew of A. Mardeev and most of the contestants in the truck and car categories did not go to the final part of the stage. The results of the day were determined by the time defined at CP3. According to the results after 5 stages of the race, crews of KAMAZ-master Team occupy the first three lines in the general classification.

Truck Category. Classification of Stage 5.

Truck Category. General Classification after Stage 5.