Dakar: Team Vanguard stage four report

"Bailey Lost Time in the Dunes"

Bailey's performance in Stage 4 was marred by lengthy delay in the sand dunes. Bailey decides to bypass checkpoint 2, take the penalty to guarantee finishing Stage 4. Car 3...54 appeared lost for many hours today.

Our concerns over yesterday's delay at checkpoint 2 were confirmed this morning. Bailey couldn't avoid crashing head-on into a hazardous ditch as he passed a slower moving vehicle. No doubt that dust affected the team's vision. "It was more like the ditch hit us. Just as we cleared the truck in front of us, I opened up the throttle and bam, we were down in a deep trench. We hit so hard that my buggy sustained damage to the front end. We couldn't get underway until our support truck pulled us out of the ditch. I consider it fortunate that we were able to conduct field repairs needed to finish Stage 3," states Bailey from the bivouac in Er Rachidia.

In today's Stage 4 course, drivers departed from Er Rachidia to Quarzazate which featured a long off-road special of 386 kilometers. Considered to be the most varied special of Dakar, the course led the drivers though their first sand dunes, which, as predicted, proved most challenging. Bailey got stuck in deep sand dunes after veering off course. "Getting stuck was bad enough. We were so far off course that our support vehicle passed us by. It took us hours to dig out. Having lost hours in the dunes I decided it was best to finish the race with a penalty, so we bypassed checkpoint 2. I didn't want to risk being disqualified this early in the race," stated Bailey.

Team Vanguard's Philippe Gache improved his standings completing Stage 4 in position 16. Likewise, Kevin Heath completed Stage 4 in position 53 and our T4 truck finished 45th. Our congratulations to all for a great performance!

Bailey continues, "I don't like the thought of starting in the back of the pack in Stage 5, the dust is very bad and severely cuts down on our visibility, but I'm glad to be in the race."

Tomorrow's Stage 5 course runs from Quarzazate to Tan Tan with a special of 350 kilometers with a total distance of 819 kilometers.

-vanguard-