Eric de Seynes and Camelia Liparoti put on a strong showing in the YXZ1000R prototype during the second stage of the Andalucia Rally. They successfully completed the long and arduous stage, finishing 11th place inside the T3 class.
The second stage was expected to be the longest adventure of the event, but was reduced from 493 kilometres to 339, of which 280 were timed. The timed sections were also divided into two separate specials with the first being 150 kilometres long, and the second 130.
The first half of the stage provided many challenges due to minimal grip, while the second half opened up and provided more speed, traction and flow. With a marathon journey ahead, Eric de Seynes and Camelia Liparoti focused on minimizing errors while maintaining speed and consistency, particularly during the first half of the stage, which proved incredibly slippery and complex.
After successfully piloting the YXZ1000R prototype through the technically challenging first special stage, the landscape proved more predictable in the second, with more traction and higher speeds that better suited the YXZ1000R prototype’s top-end gearing. The Yamaha pairing were able to finish on the verge of the top-10 in the T3 category.
The Franco Sport YXZ1000R drivers endured a mixed second stage in the SSV Open class. Manuel and Pedro Breyner enjoyed another solid day on the Spanish landscape finishing 11th place. At the same time, teammates Mario Franco and Nuno Guilherme suffered a rear driveshaft failure upon approach to the first fuel stop. Despite the challenge of navigating stage with front wheel drive only, the Franco sport pairing were able to make it to the finish in a creditable 13th place.
The penultimate stage of the Andalucía Rally will take place today, Saturday 15th May. It will feature as the third stage and will consist of 298 kilometers of timed special.
Results remain provisional.
Eric de Seynes
Driver: Yamaha YXZ1000R prototype #251
“Long day today. The first stage this morning was difficult because I had no grip and the terrain was totally unpredictable. Sometimes, the car was sliding during the braking phase and sometimes during the corners, which made the braking and acceleration points difficult to judge. I was obliged to take care in many instances. I tried to limit mistakes and keep a consistent pace. The second phase of the stage was much better. The car could slide, but it was predictable, which meant I could play with the car and that was nice. Today I could use the fifth gear, and it was faster. I made a couple of mistakes, but these were common mistakes. It was tricky, but this afternoon was really good.”
Camelia Liparoti
Co-Driver: Yamaha YXZ1000R prototype #251
“It was a long day, kind of a Dakar-like stage today. Again, we built up speed and confidence as a team. Today there was no number 1 or number 2 in the car; we were both number 1’s. We minimized the errors as much as possible. We had a bit of difficulty with the grip because of the tyres in the first part of the stage as it was super slippery, so we had to be careful. We took care of our trajectory and the car. In the second part of the stage, we had more grip, which meant we could increase our speed, consequently, my notes had to be faster also. I feel like I’ve been talking all day, but it was fun.”
