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Lithuania welcomed the teams in winter weather, the difference compared to the Red Sea coast was 50 degrees. Benedict Vanag joked that Filipe Palmeiro’s life had not been 20 degrees cold at all and he had even found warm gloves for this extreme test, according to the team’s report.
Palmeiro expects an early flight through Paris to Lisbon on Sunday morning, followed by a two-hour drive home.
The team accelerated, the rivals also
B. Vanagas was pleased with the large number of Lithuanians who made it to the Dakar finish line and set new records, but was in no rush to assess his own result. According to the broker, it is only worth doing after a while.
“Yes, Philip and I are in twelfth place. I know that everyone, including ourselves, was expecting a top ten. It is also to be appreciated that we were five hours behind the leader, and two years ago, the first and eleventh places were separated by eight hours. As a result, we have accelerated considerably, but the competition has grown even more, ”said the athlete.
According to him, there are no more things that make a significant advance in the team, it is necessary to pay special attention to the small details that will eventually give those missing minutes. One of the deciding factors this year has been the lack of testing with a new car.
“After the tests in Lithuania, it seemed that we understood it well enough, but during the Dakar we accelerated for another four days. After getting used to the time we spent in the car, we ended up racing at the end of the race ”, commented the driver.
The experience gained provided stability
Reviewing his nine Dakar Rally marathons, B. Vanag said he had a lot of ambition and desire at the beginning, but lacked experience. After learning the first few lessons, he calmed down and started planning, and stability has prevailed in recent years.
“I would like to believe that the tenth Dakar will be one that surprises everyone in a good way,” he hoped.
Mr. Vanag admitted that he was very upset about the navigation errors, but at the same time he saw the fastest riders drifting in the opposite direction on the track. One of them was rally legend Sebastian Loeb, who even stopped to ask about the road.
The change of navigation in Dakar is the biggest change for F. Palmeiro, who has a lot of experience in this race. The co-driver admitted that they were very difficult days, but appreciated the final result.
“The whole team worked hard, but the competition was huge and we didn’t make it to the top ten. This year, they were all extremely fast, the tenth place crew could have been seventh or eighth in previous years,” said the athlete.
Geography would diversify new countries
The rocky tracks have become a serious test for athletes. B. Vanagas, even recovering the medal on the podium, did not miss the opportunity to ask the organizers to have less next year. According to the racer, riding on rocks is not really sporty driving and repairing damaged cars is expensive.
“I hope that one or more countries will join Saudi Arabia. This would allow to expand the geography of the competition and make it more diverse,” said the broker.
B. Vanagas fought F. Palmeiro for the highest position until the end of the last speed section. And only through the hair it was not possible to repeat the best result of the Baltic States, in 2019 it was ranked 11th: in the general car ranking, the crew ranked 12th.
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