The 5th and penultimate day of Fenix Rally 2021, took the competitors from the Bedouin camp of the marathon stage back to Douz at the main bivouac of the race. There were two special stages, with a total distance of 225 kilometers timed. As the first part of the day was full of sand and some dunes, the second one (near the famous town of Matmata) offered mainly rocky tracks with some fesh-fesh.
Once again in the car open class, Jerome Pelichet was unbeatable and took another stage win. The French driver and his “magic” MD Optimus buggy flew the timed section, finishing with almost 8 minutes advance of Vaidotas Paskevicius (Seat Leon) and another 15 minutes to Agostino Rizzardi (Porsche).
And as Pelichet seems immovable from the first place, there was huge changes after him. As Jean Pascal Besson retired from the race because of technical problems, it’s now Rizzardi who is the main contender for the “silver medal”. But even more dramatic is the situation for the third place, where now is the Bulgarian Dessislav Slavchev (Mercedes). Slavchev did it with 4th time for the day, but in the general rankings is under serious push from not one, but three competitors and mainly from Adam Bomba (BMW), who is only some 5 minutes behind.
In the car limited class (ot T2, if you want) Laurant Aboueix (Mercedes) and Gregorz Brochocki (Toyota) will fight for the title, as they have huge advance over the rest competitor. Brochocki has over 12 minutes advance, but nothing is decided before the final kilometers of Fenix Rally.
As Lionel Baud and his PH Sport Zephyr are dominating the SSV class with another stage victory, it’s clear that the main fight will be for the second place. Second for the day at the finish was Dalius Olechnavicius (LTU), followed closely by Lea Gothier (FRA). Anyway in the general rankings the second place belongs to Pelle Moens (NLD, 6th for the day) and Olechnavicius is third.
In the bike class Jonathan Mongarny(FRA, Beta) won the 5th leg of Fenix Rally, but the Dutch Bram van der Wouden (NLD, Sherco) is absolute leader with huge advance. As for the ATVs, nobody can catch Romualdas Karuzis, who was faster for the day (again) and is leading his compatriot Adomas Gancierius with 52 minutes.
The last 6th leg of Fenix Rally will offer only one special stage around Douz, with 110 kilometers against the clock. After that there will be the award ceremony for the inaugural edition of the desert race.
