Taklimakan Rally underway in NW China

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A special stage of the 2018 Taklimakan Rally started in the Kumtag Desert in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Sunday with rugged track conditions and high temperatures.

Zi Yungang from Shanxi Yunxiang Club finished first in the stage and said that the track was "not very difficult" and that "controlling tempo" was important.

The defending champion, French racer Christian Lavieille, was not satisfied with his performance in finishing 11th. "Today, I made a misjudgment when I climbed a dune; my car was trapped in the sand. I wasted some time there, but luckily, I got out of the trouble soon," Lavieille said.

Han Wei, who is thought to be one of Lavieille's fiercest competitors, had a tire blowout and could only manage sixth.

VCG Photo

In the motorcycle group, Chinese racer Zaker won the "Golden Helmet" with defending champion Armand Hernandez second. "I made a mistake at the beginning, but in the second half, I was very close to Zaker. Fortunately, I found my pace in the competition, which was important to me," the Spanish racer said.

The Kumtag Desert stage is known to be one of the most difficult sections of the rally, which covers nearly 240 kilometers, and is mainly composed of open Gobi Desert and continuous dunes. Racers have to compete in temperatures that could reach as high as 50 degrees Celsius.

The second state was taking place on Monday on a 297-kilometer track in the Kumtag Desert. The international cross-country rally will run for 13 days.

(With inputs from Xinhua)