Stage 3 added more variation to the rally as today allowed for assistance during the special. If you opt to use assistance the time spent idle is counted towards your overall time. There are 3 pit stops along the stage with the 3rd stop in neutralization zone, you have 6 minutes in a 1.8km zone before time starts again.
For the crews it was a busy day of chasing the racers from pit stop to pit stop. Each spot they would build out their pit with everything needed to work on the car. Being that there is no communications with Casey they have to be ready for all situations at a moments notice.
Casey would start the stage as the 71st vehicle and 14th SxS. Everything was running smoothly through the first pit and Casey was on his way to the half way point. Half way through the stage there is a refueling stop that is in a neutral zone, time will not be credited for this stop. Fuel is administered by race organization, if Casey needed outside assistance he would have to pull back into the timed zone to get help, luckily that was not the case.
He had a solid pace going all day until getting a puncture in the sand. After a quick tire change he was back running again. Because of the flat though he only had 1 spare going into the last part of the special. Not wanting to risk even more down time he stopped at the final pit stop, a quick tire swap on the rack and he was back moving.
Casey would finish the special stage 4th on the day +00:11:29 behind the leader. This puts him at 8th overall on the Rally +00:56:03 behind the leader.
From the end of the special it was a lengthy 462km liaison down the coastline. The road was one of the craziest, most dangerous roads we’ve ever been on. A huge stretch of the road was along a cliffside with zero guardrail and semi trucks on the inside lane. As the sun went down we had another 4 hours onto the bivouac.
Stage 4 will be day 1 of the marathon stage. The stage will start off with an 85 km liaison that leads you into a long 406km special. The day will be a test of endurance without the outside assistance from the crews.
Story and Photos via CaseyCurrie.com
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