Transsyberia Rally: Ammin Schwarz leg nine summary

Transsyberia Rally, Leg 9: Up to third overall after 282 special stage kilometres

The ninth of 14 legs of the Transsyberia Rally was fantastic: One special stage of 282 kilometres led us through roughest terrain which reminded me a lot of motorbike trial grounds. And other stretches of the stage were very, very fast, we reached up to 200kph. All this at elevations between 2000 and more than 3000 metres in a rugged, barren countryside. I'm pretty sure, I will not forget this day.

Third on the stage and overall: we are very confident, there's still a lot of driving to do.

We finished the special stage in third place and moved up to third overall. Until 100 kilometres from the finish we were clearly in the lead. But then came that fork in the tracks, and we took the one that cost us 30 minutes ... Well, everything is still possible, there's a lot to drive until we arrive in Ulaan Baatar this coming Friday. After the first stage in Mongolia 29 teams are still running, most of them like us with the Porsche Cayenne S Transsyberia. Team Spain with Pau Soler and his co-driver Laia Peinado won today's stage ahead of Team France with Christian Lavieille and Francois Borsotto with the French crew grabbing the overall lead. Said Al Hajri, who started today's stage as the overall leader, retired after he hit a pot hole at high speed and injured his spine. I wish Said all the best and a very quick recovery.

Over the fast bits the Cayenne handles like a thoroughbred sportscar.

Tomorrow, Monday, we tackle leg 10 with a special stage of 233 kilometres! I simply love it! I'll be back here tomorrow with more news.

Best wishes,

Armin

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-credit: armin schwarz