The Portuguese truckdriver Elisabete Jacinto concluded on Thursday another stage of the Africa Race 2018, the third one that was fulfilled between Agdal and Assa in Morocco. The day started very well for the Bio-Ritmo team which registered a very fast speed during much of the special. Until CP2, the Portuguese were in second place among the trucks and were discussing closely the lead with the Hungarian Miklos Kovacs. But a few kilometers from the CP3, the front differential of the MAN TGS broke making difficult the progress of the Portuguese who finished the day in the 10th place of their category.

The trio, made up of Elisabete Jacinto, José Marques and Marco Cochinho, had a small difference of 40 seconds of the first place when the setback arose which ended up making it impossible for the Portuguese team to keep the speed particularly in the dune zone. The Bio-Ritmo team completed the selective sector, which was eventually won by the Dutch Gerard De Rooy, in 06:00:02. The Portuguese are now in fifth place in the overall T4 standings.

Although it is a difficult situation to solve, Elisabete Jacinto continues in the race: "We were driving very well when at one point we heard a noise. We did a few more kilometers, but the noise began to grow and we stopped to see what was happening. That's when we realized that the front differential had broken. From that moment on we made the rest of the race with two-wheel drive, which meant we had to roll slowly and it was more difficult to finish the special. Still we managed to print a good speed until the end and now we have to try to solve the problem so that tomorrow we can be at the start", revealed the Portuguese.

Photo: AIFA

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