Stage 5 – Neuquen–San Rafael
Total length: 763 km
Liaison: 173 km, Special:  506 km, liaison:  84 km
 
Today, stage 5 went from Neuquen to San Rafael. It was a really tough, edge-of-your-seat race, where the fight in front went between the three Russians and the Dutchman Gerard de Rooy, while halfway through the race, the MAN Rally teams Echter and Stacey took over. Franz Echter was in a steady 5th position throughout the race, ending in this same position at + 00:56:01 from winner Kabirov. Hans Stacey, who started in 13th position, was able to fight his way back to a 4th position until long after CP2. Unfortunately, Stacey fell back during the last few kilometres and crossed the finish line in 8th position. When this report was written, Geert Verhoeven had not come in yet.
 
Today’s results:
1 506 KABIROV (RUS) KAMAZ 06:43:56 00:00:00 
2 501 CHAGIN (RUS)  KAMAZ 06:56:15 00:12:19 
3 505 DE ROOY (NLD) GINAF 06:56:24 00:12:28 
4 512 TOMECEK (CZE) TATRA 07:37:20 00:53:24 
5 507 ECHTER (DEU)  MAN   07:39:57 00:56:01
8 500 STACEY (NLD)  MAN   08:32:11 01:48:15
 
After spotting the first sand dunes yesterday, the participants had to cross the real sand dunes for a stretch of no less than 20 kilometres. Furthermore, long off-road stretches were alternated with plenty of technical tests en route, which made today a real trial.
 
After this 5th stage, the general list of rankings reads:
1 505 DE ROOY (NLD) GINAF  22:13:05 00:00:00 
2 506 KABIROV (RUS) KAMAZ  22:13:18 00:00:13 
3 501 CHAGIN (RUS)  KAMAZ  22:23:10 00:10:05 
4 508 MARDEEV (RUS) KAMAZ  23:43:51 01:30:46 
5 507 ECHTER (DEU)  MAN    24:20:45 02:07:40 
6 512 TOMECEK (CZE) TATRA  24:48:19 02:35:14 
7 520 SPACIL (CZE)  LIAZ   25:24:11 03:11:06 
8 500 STACEY (NLD)  MAN    26:05:37 03:52:32
 
Tomorrow, we will continue the route to Mendoza. It will be a 625 km leg, including a 395 km special. The special will be another tough one, with some 60 kilometre of dunes to start out with. As for soil condition and degree of difficulty, South-America is a match for Africa.