Update:
With the Saluki not finishing yesterday the team have been given additional time penalties which puts their total time at 25H 17M 07S. However, with Tim firmly back in the co-driver seat having been declared fit yesterday evening, the Saluki is placed at starting position 30, still ahead of many of the competitors.
The race start this morning has been delayed by 90 minutes due to fog.
The race is back on......
The dogs's back.
Saluki start the day in 30th place due to the time penalties incurred
yesterday. The start was delayed due to the fog and instead of the
scheduled start time of 8:27 Saluki is finally let loose at 11:27 into
the heat of the day. They arrive at a remote PC1 flying through as
the 21st vehicle, the engine running perfectly due to the quality
lubrications supplied by Castrol.
At PC2, the service area, it's the Saluki on a dash where the service
team have been waiting on them arriving. The Saluki flies through the
PC point without even taking time out to congratulate the happy
couple. Two members of the European support team, Tessa and Ard, got
engaged this morning enroute to the service point. Atop a sand dune
Ard proposed to Tessa who accepted his proposal of marriage. Then it
was down to the serious business of getting to the service point. At
least they got their priorities correct. The Team wish Tessa and Ard
the very best for their future.
Back to the racing... The Saluki came storming through PC2 in 20th
position and headed out on a mission on the long stretch to PC3. The
team headed for the finish at PC4 to welcome the Saluki back in force to
the challenge. At the finish, the Saluki came in 12th place with a time
of 3H 23M 51S. An amazing drive and just goes to show how well the car
is running.*
*
*What goes up...*
*
Even in the extreme heat of the day due to the later start, the Saluki
is running cooler than previously due to the excellent cooling system
provided by Serck Services.
The day took it's toll on some of the other competitors inlcuding Ari
Vatanen who visited the Saluki camp last night. Ari did not finish
todays stage due to vehicle failure.
Ari has a look at how Saluki do things
At the end of the day, two happy occupants emerged from the Saluki,
helped by Tim's dehydration problem not reoccuring.
Regards
Team Saluki
www.teamsaluki.com
