Gerard De Rooy #302 and Artur Ardavichus #310 were once again the men of the day: the PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO Team leader ran a perfect race, in which he decided to drive more safely and less fast in the second special because of the mud. He finished second with a short delay of 21 second and ahead of Kazakh pilot Ardavichus on board the other Powerstar. Artur, the new entry in the team, was at the finish line 1m56s.
A slippery passage nearly a little river created some problems with a wheel, costing Dutchman Ton Van Genugten precious time. He arrived 15th at the end of the Kostanay-Astana stage, which puts him in 10th position in the general ranking.
“It’s my first experience in Silk Way Rally,” said Henk Van Leuven, Manager of PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO Team. “These first stages through Russia and Kazakhstan have been a good test for our IVECO trucks. In view of the next rally raids we need to understand the improvement we may need to make, and the Silk Way Rally is just right because is one of the greatest competitions in the world. So far the pilots are happy with the stages in Russia and the first one in Kazakhstan. What else? We are looking for good results.”
Stage 4 results: 1. Martin Kolomy (Tatra) 3h45m50s, 2. Gerard De Rooy (IVECO) +0m21s, 3. Artur Ardavichus (IVECO) +1m56s, 4. Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz) +8m02s, 5. Airat Mardeev (Kamaz) +10m54s… 15. Ton Van Genugten (IVECO) +3h31m41s.
Overall classification: 1. Martin Kolomy (Tatra) 10h30m57s, 2. Gerard De Rooy (IVECO) +11m08s, 3. Artur Ardavichus (IVECO) +14m37s, 4. Anton Shibalov (Kamaz) +18m57s, 5. Airat Mardeev (Kamaz) +19m15s…10. Ton Van Genugten (IVECO) + 3h42m22s.