Articles > International Automotive Newsprintwrite comment

Renault


MINI wins first Dakar stage, Renault Duster in top 5 and PEUGEOT TOTAL team makes smooth Dakar debut !

While Orlando Terranova and Ronnie Graue of the German X-Raid Team won the first Dakar stage yesterday on their MINI ALL4 Racing and while the extravagant and racing-stars-studded Peugeot TOTAL team made a smooth Dakar debut, it was the Renault Duster Team which surprised us with a sensational start to the 2015 Dakar Rally.

The Emiliano Spataro/Benjamín Lozada crew ended the first leg with their Renault Duster racing car in fifth place, alongside some of the top specialists of the legendary off-road Rally, held in South America.

Emiliano Spataro and Benjamín Lozada produced a fantastic performance on Sunday’s opening leg of the 2015 Dakar Rally. Driving the Renault Duster entered by Renault Argentina, with the support of Renault Sport Technologies, the South American crew reached Villa Carlos Paz in sixth position, before gaining an extra place after a penalty was handed to Nasser Al-Attiyah. They therefore hold fifth place overall, less than minute behind the leader, Orlando Terranova, and only fourteen seconds adrift of second place, whilst also ending the leg ahead of some very accomplished drivers, such as former winners Carlos Sainz and Stéphane Peterhansel.

This is the best result recorded by the Renault Duster Team at this stage since its debut in 2013. Last year, José García and Mauricio Malano were ninth overall after the first leg.

García and Malano, in the second Renault Duster, also made a good start on Sunday in Argentina. However, held up by poor visibility and difficulties in overtaking the cars ahead of them on the road, they ended the first leg in 37th position, less than 14 minutes off the lead.

The 37th edition of the DAKAR rally started yesterday in Buenos Aires with 406 vehicles, divided between 161 motorcycle riders, 137 cars, 63 trucks and 45 quad riders.

British rider Sam Sunderland on his KTM won the first stage in the motorcycle category, Hans Stacey and his team De Rooy won the first stage in the truck category on his Iveco, and Ignacio Casale won the first stage in the quad category on his Yamaha Raptor 700.

Overall standings after the first leg, Buenos Aires – Villa Carlos Paz – Dakar 2015
1. Terranova – Graue (Mini) 1:13:12
2. Gordon – Campbell (Hummer) +0:42
3. De Villiers – Von Zitzewitz +0:50
4. Holowicz – Panseri +0:54
5. Spataro – Lozada +0:56
37. García – Malano + 13:55

The two Renault Duster crews will resume their journey on Monday, heading from Villa Carlos Paz to San Juan, covering a total of 625 kilometres, with 518 kilometres of timed stages.

MS
05.01.2015
Buenos Aires – Dubai – Cairo



write comment

Readers Comments:

No comments yet


Related articles:

#SaferCarsForEgypt

The biggest automotive group and Road Safety initiative in Egypt and the Middle East
Want to sell your used car or buy one? Then check out our new used car market section here!

Mohamed Sheta on social media:

Looking for a good service center or aftersales customer service? Did you have any bad experience with your car dealer or service center? Then check our 'automotive evaluation charts' here!

Latest Test-Drive Video and CEO Interview



Ford EcoSport Titanium Test-Drive ... Part 1

Nile TV

Mohamed Sheta
LIVE ON AIR
Every Wednesday in The Breakfast Show on
NILE TV INTERNATIONAL
8.30am – 09.00am LIVE

MOHAMED SHETA
LIVE ON AIR

Every Thursday
on Egypt's most influential radio network:
Radio DRN 93.7 FM
Live from 6-8pm


Radio DRN 93.7 FM

Autoarabia Group @ Facebook.com


Join Autoarabia Group @ facebook.com
...cars, racing, tuning and events in Egypt and Middle East
Is Egyptian car market corrupt or collapsing?
Is the Egyptian car market collapsing or is it just a corrupt and unprofessional car market? This is surely one of the most asked questions these days. Everybody is asking ...

FORMULA 1

AutoArabia Consulting

Only for company requests. For readers letters and complaints kindly click here

International Engine of the Year Award

Middle East Car of the Year

MECOTY 2019

IRF seminar

Road Safety & Public/Private Partnership
International Road Federation