Antofagasta, Chile (January 6, 2010) –Team HUMMER carried the momentum from yesterday’s stage win into today’s performance. Robby Gordon finished fourth, just 4 minutes and 48 seconds behind the winner Mark Miller. Gordon jumps to fourth place overall, only trailing Carlos Sainz by 59 minutes and 55 seconds. As Gordon suspected, most competitors struggled during Stage 5 from Copiapo to Antofagasta, one of the longest stages during the 2010 Dakar Rally. Despite the tough terrain and length of the stage, Gordon proved once again that his Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER is reliable and fast across the Chilean desert.
“We had an interesting day today. Since we were the first car on the road due to yesterday’s stage win, we made the trail. Unfortunately, we got stuck once in a ditch as we were making our way, costing us about six minutes. Things were going along good and then we had an overheating issue near the end of the special. Stopping to replace the belt cost us about couple of minutes. Had it not been for these errors, I think that we could have won the special by about four minutes. Regardless, we had a good day and are now within the hour mark and have our sights set on Carlos. Unfortunately, we messed up on the third day by missing a check point. It has been a good rally for us and the Monster Energy / Toyo Tires HUMMER. There is still a long way to go both in the Rally and competing for the overall win,” commented Robby Gordon.
The Vanguard HUMMER started today’s special in eight place. Despite a clutch issue in the dunes, the driver finished 12th.
For Stage 6, the teams will head north up the Chilean coast to Iquique from Antofagasta. There will be a 90km liaison with a special featuring 483km and finally another 97km liaison back to the bivouac in Iquique, Chile.