Heads and tails for Isidre Esteve and Txema Villalobos in the first stage of Morocco Rally. The duo of Repsol Toyota Rally Team They were making up positions, despite their delayed starting position, when a small mistake on a dune cost them several hours. The incident was really unlucky, because they would have solved it in the blink of an eye if it wasn’t for the fact that another car got stuck behind them and prevented them from maneuvering. To their credit is the speed shown when they have a free track ahead, a clear indication of the Spanish team’s progress with the Toyota Hilux T1+.
“It was a very difficult and very complicated day”, Isidre openly admitted. The pilot from Oliana (Lleida), who started 47th in the starting order, suffered a lot from the dust. “It was very difficult for us to overtake the earlier cars; We rode 60 kilometers behind a side in the first part of the special, and we couldn’t catch it because of the dust,” he explained.
When they finally achieved it, the Repsol Toyota Rally Team showed a good example of its possibilities. “With the clean track ahead, we picked up the pace and made up a lot of time”, he said happily. The Toyota Hilux T1+ with the colors of Repsol, MGS Seguros, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing España and KH-7 climbed fifteen positions and rose to positions close to the top 20. And this despite the fact that, after kilometer 100 , the air conditioning stopped working, a serious added inconvenience on a very hot day in Morocco, with a maximum temperature of 40ºC, rising inside the competition car.
Overcoming the dust and heat, Esteve was having a great stage, until, at kilometer 235, he made a small mistake. “On the dunes, I went into a hole, a tire came off and I was hooked on climbing. We were going to leave in ten minutes by retreating, but our bad luck was that a buggy went over the dune and got stuck in the back after crashing into our car. We could not move and it took us about an hour and a half to get the vehicle out of there,” he explained.
In a day full of events, the result is of little importance. Esteve and Villalobos qualified in 62nd absolute position – 29th in the T1 category – on the stage between Agadir and Zagora, 711 kilometers in total. They completed the 314 kilometer special in 5 hours and 5 minutes of the race, 1 hour and 49 minutes behind the leader. The math is easy to do: on a normal day, the Repsol Toyota Rally Team is in the absolute top 20 of the Morocco Rally.
Belief in his excellent race pace keeps the Catalan driver motivated for the remaining days. “With the track free, we were able to run. It’s just the first day of the race, there’s still a long way to go. The good thing is that there is a lot of running and we still have a lot of days left to recover,” he says with conviction.
The Repsol Toyota Rally Team will have its first chance to return this Sunday, at second stage of the Morocco Rally, a loop around Zagora. Of the 396 total kilometers, 296 correspond to the special day, which is expected to be very difficult as it will run on rock and dirt.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
