ARWC 2015 Brazil - Pantanal
Courses Shortened, Five break Away
Rob Howard / 19.11.2015
If you have been watching the dots on the YB Trackers at the AR World Championship in Pantanal you’ve probably been wondering quite what is going on among the leading teams.
Race leaders Seagate are still on the jungle pack raft stage as I write this, though they are close to finishing it. They’ve been out there a very long time, moving very slowly. Behind them are the 4 other teams who have started the stage. Columbia Oncosec and Estonia ACE Adventure are following a similar line to Seagate, while the two Swedish teams are on a different route and are moving faster. Behind these teams those who have reached AT6 have stopped, with Godzone Adventure having set off and turned back.
The story, as told me by Race Director Shubi Guaimares this morning is that the Swedish teams are on the right track. “They are following the route I suggested,” she said, “which is to follow a cattle driving track. It looks like they are managing to find this and move more relatively quickly. The others appear to be taking a more direct route on a bearing, maybe thinking there is water everywhere, so they can make progress, but there is vegetation too and it’s not so quick.”
Back at AT6 there was something of a rebellion in the jungle. Godzone returned to the transition some 8 hours after setting out, and the message was relayed to Shubi that the teams didn’t want to go on. “I think the teams that came back freaked everyone out,” she said. “They were saying it’s impossible to go on, to find a way or navigate and all the teams got together and called me. I spoke to Nick Gracie and tried to explain that the route on the cattle track was better, then later rang them back to say we would fly the teams out from there. They were so thankful when I said this!”
I asked Shubi how she felt about the decision and she was clearly disappointed. “I had hoped maybe they could have done a little more,” she said, “and when I rang back I felt maybe some did want to go on, but by then it was too late, they were not in the right frame of mind to go into a difficult stage and I couldn’t risk them needing rescue on the pack raft stage. It became much more a matter of security. There is an airstrip there and we can move them forward so that is what we have to do.
The original plan was to move them by plane to the next AT and to shorten the course after that. This was then changed and the plan is now to fly all teams at AT6 to CP20 and to finish the race from there. Their bikes will be moved to CP20 and from there they will ride to CP21 then take the short course option to CP25 and finish the race on that route.
There are two planes and each can take 4 so the teams will be flown out in the order they arrived, then resume racing, time adjustments will be made later on. I also heard some food would be made available as teams are running out, and another comment was that racers who are dehydrated at AT6 have been allowed to take IV drips without any penalty, though not all took up the option. Again this was purely a safety option to keep teams in the best possible condition in the circumstances.
The top 5 teams who completed the pack raft will remain on the course, completing the next shorter trek and then picking up their bikes at PC19. They will then ride to CP20 and take the same short course route as the other teams. This means they will miss the river paddle and be on a reduced mountain biking leg (from 250km down to a total 185km … so there is still a long way to go.)
“It is very difficult to estimate the times,” she told me, “and I did this pack raft stage myself as I did the whole course. I even did the Amolar trek in 20 hours, and I thought Seagate would be quicker than me as they are stronger, but they took 22 hours. Of course they are more tired from the race, but I think the biggest factor has been the heat. It is never usually this hot at this time. Usually it’s around 30 or 31C, but it’s been 38C or more and that is a big difference. It has made everything so much harder.”
The top 5 teams will of course be ranked above all others and the question now is which of them will emerge from the pack raft stage in the best condition to reach the finish line first on the revised course.
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