On 1 January, Beijing Off-Road Racing's No. 213 BJ40 (Zhang Guoyu/Pan Hongyu) took to the stage of the official opening ceremony of the Dakar Rally wearing a five-star red flag after completing the 19-kilometer race of Stage 1-A. The team from Beijing, China, once again shines on this annual global racing feast. On Sunday, January 2, 2022, Beijing time, the Dakar Rally entered the second day's schedule. After a day of testing, the 213 car, which started from 69th place, made all the way and completed the S1-B stage with a time of 24th place.
Rider Quotes| Zhang Guoyu
I can take the five-star red flag to the starting platform of the world's top race Dakar Rally again, thank you for the strong motherland, thank you Beijing Automotive Group, thank you for accompanying and supporting me, thank you for supporting my friends, today the race officially started, refuel 213 car group!
No Room For Error
After last night's rainy night, Stage 1-B's journey began to become dangerous. On 2 January, stage 1-B will run 514 kilometres, with a special stage of 333 kilometres and a predominantly sandy road. The official Dakar rating of this stage is: "No room for error", which means "there is no room or room for error". Here, drivers can drive at high speeds, but they are also prone to mistakes, so the No. 213 car especially needs the bold and small quality of navigator Pan Hongyu. How to read the track environment better to avoid deviating from the course and moving forward to the finish without wasting any valuable time is crucial.
Sure enough, the S1-B stage challenged all the participating drivers, Dakar star Peter Hansel suffered a bad car, and Sainz also encountered a lost road in the long course. This 333-kilometer race became a large collective pathfinding journey. Group 213 also suffered some conditions and had to stop four times.
The real test of breaking through the level after the heavy rain begins!
Driver Zhang Guoyu said after completing the sprint at the end of the stage: "There was some situation today, four stops, during which the road was delayed for 30-40 minutes. After the rain, the tire pressure we chose was too high, the slope could not go up, the 380 liters of oil on the back of 30 kilometers was too heavy, and almost collided with the car that also could not go up the slope, resulting in the pressure on the camel grass, and then got out of the car to deflate before climbing up. ”
Regarding the story of finding a route today, Zhang Guoyu also expressed a high degree of trust in the pilot Pan Hongyu: "Hongyu is particularly good. Where everyone got lost, his mind was very clear, the other cars were still in the mystery, and we had found the right route. At present, the cooperation between the two of us has fully entered the best state. ”
Although the No. 213 had a tire burst towards the finish line, the team was satisfied with the performance and results of today's drivers. At present, the Beijing off-road team's No. 213 car (Zhang Guoyu/ Pan Hongyu) is in the 24th place in the whole field, and team director Li Jiarun said: "Indeed, today's drivers will be quite difficult in the segment, and then the situation is quite strange, there are many masters who have fallen, and a lot of time is wasted looking for the way." This may be because of the heavy rain yesterday, which broke many of the course routes, causing the drivers to look like they were not on the road at all when driving. In this case, the driver came out of this time and position, we are still very satisfied. ”
Tomorrow, 3 January, the Dakar Rally will compete for Stage 2, with a length of 568 km and a special section of 338 km.