SS5-Taklimakan Rally 2018

[Beijing] Stage 5 (SS5) of Taklimakan Rally 2018 was held on June 8th. It ran 301km of mainly Gobi deserts, oueds and dunes, where the desert tracks and stream beds were covered with gravel and fine sand. This resulted in a visibility lower than 5m when cars in front leave those behind in the wake of swirling particles. The race routes continued to bake like an oven, exhausting the participants. Zhengzhou Nissan’s Team Navara headed straight out to accept the challenge.

Peppered with odd landforms such as gullies and yardangs as well as increased sharp turns, today’s race saw many glitches. Behind-the-wheel skills and automobile performances were put to the test. A car overturning was minor; the real challenge was how to salvage the situation with just two pairs of hands as the sweltering weather beat down on them. Also, the soft desert tracks demanded extraordinary horsepower, hydraulics and braking.