7th-8th stage : 2008 Transsyberia Rally updated!

Bordercrossing

July 18th, 2008, Kosh Agash - Oelgy 221 km. Evening summary
Half time at the Transsyberia Rally 2008: The teams have entered Mongolia

After a crisp night in the Altai Mountains and more than 5000 km on and off the Russian roads in seven days, the teams of the Transsyberia Rally 2008 powered by Sony Ericsson have left Russia. The pilots crossed the border at Taschanta not far from the Russian village Kosh Agash. Translated this means “Good bye tree” and points out to travelers that they won’t be seeing any trees in the Mongolian Steppe from now on.



After last year’s experiences, the border crossing procedures on the Russian, as well as on the Mongolian went smoothly. Almost 70 vehicles had to be processed, an operation which took the entire day. The drivers had to wait in the back of the line for hours in midsummer temperatures.

The first entry in the road book on Mongolian terrain read: “End of the asphalt”. And they won’t find any of it in Mongolia until shortly before they reach Ulaanbaatar. After the entry, the 80 km route led up to an altitude of 2000 meters, through sparse steppe and across jagged, stony slopes to today’s stage destination, a camp above the town of Oelgy.

Starting Sunday, the teams have to prove the terrain capability of their cars, their own driving skills, as well as their endurance on the long off-road stretches and their navigation knowledge during the remaining six stages.

For tomorrow a day of rest is scheduled. “You definitely need a day of rest during a two week rally. Especially for the smaller teams and cars, as well as the younger drivers that day it’s a must. It’s however also really nice for us old hands”, said Said Rashid Al Hajri, pilot of Team Middle East, the current leaders in the overall standings. Together with his navigator Tim Trenker, the 51-year old pilot from Qatar is reckoning with good chances for successfully reaching the destination. “We wanted to drive very well in Russia, and we succeeded. Now it’s time for the second part of the plan, which is, to reach Ulaanbaatar as one of the first few. The Top 5 will all go full throttle, I’m sure. However the rally’s still long, very long”, Al Hajri reasoned. From years of rally experience he knows that a lot can still happen in the second part of a rally.

At half time, Team Middle East is still in the lead in the overall standings, followed by Team France, Team Portugal, Team Germany 3 and Team Germany 1.

July 17th, 2008
7th Stage Crossing Border







July 17th, 2008
7th Stage Novosibirsk-Kosh Agash 890 km







Copyright © Transsyberia Rally 2008 powered by Sony Ericsson/REBEL Media.

[Source : Transsyberia Rally]