In the car class, the leadership is still for Luc Alphand, with Nani Roma second, waiting for the official classification posted by the organisation
Leg 3, San Rafael Mendoza; 83.68 Km liaison 307.1 Km special 21.4 Km neutralised- 17018 Km liaison, total 582.20 Km.
The leg raced today between the cities of San Rafael and Mendoza, with a total of 582 Km and a 307-Km special, is the last leg to be raced in Argentina, because tomorrow, the Patagonia Atacama will enter Chile, with the leg finish in Santiago de Chile, at an altitude of approx. 4,000 metres over the sea level. Participants have to expect an abrupt drop of temperatures and of the engine performance, both of the bikes and the cars.
Todays stage presented basically only one difficulty, a sea of dunes of 50 Km in length. In the motorbike class, the victory went to David Casteau, followed by Marc Coma four minutes behind. Marc, who started first, followed by team mate Jordi Viladoms and David Casteau, was caught by the French rider and they crossed the dunes together. Jordi Viladoms, with some mechanical problems after breaking the gear lever of his bike, lost more than one hour after todays special, but was fortunately able to reach the bivouac in Mendoza.
In the car class, not much information so far. We only know that Nani Roma and his team mate Luc Alphand, leader of the overall standings, crossed the dunes together and reached the finish of the special with very little difference, meaning that the Frenchman should still be leading the time sheets.
Marc Coma: The leg did not have many complications; we found some 50 Km of dunes at the beginning, a bit complicated but we passed them well. A group was formed in the lead and we rode together the whole stage. The leg was shorter than yesterday, there was nothing complicated after the dunes; it was just about covering kilometres and being watchful to avoid any problem. The bike is working quite well; tomorrow will be last stage in Argentina; we are just about to enter Chile.
Jordi Viladoms: Its a shame, the gear lever broke on KM 15 and I had to make more than 150 Km in third gear, without being able to change. I didnt have many problems in the dunes, but then, on the fast tracks, I wasnt able to be faster and that set me back. A Chilean rider gave me his spare lever because I didnt find mine, but it wasnt the same bike and I lost it some kilometres later. Finally, in the neutralised section, I was able to mount another lever and continue until the end without any problem.
Nani Roma: In the first part of todays leg, there were 50 Km of quite difficult dunes, but we passed them well, no problems. Then we continued on fast tracks without any complication at all. We just arrived and there are no times on the official board, so I dont know whether Luc took the victory or I, because we arrived with very little difference.
