The second stage of the 37th Dakar Rally took place on the 5th, where Zhou Yong, driver for the 2015 Perfect China "Meinian Onehealth" Brave Team, delivered an impressive performance—starting from 31st place, he climbed to 20th with a time of 7 hours, 15 minutes, and 46 seconds.
The day’s stage ran from Carlos Paz in Argentina to San Juan. Competitors started from areas at nearly 2,000 meters above sea level and headed toward a finish line at around 800 meters. As per tradition, the starting order was determined by results from the previous stage. Qatari driver Al-Attiyah, who had been penalized two minutes for speeding during the liaison section the day before, started second but still drove his MINI to take the first arrival at the finish.
Zhou Yong commented: “Today’s stage was 520 kilometers long, featuring a very tough mix of terrains—it was quite challenging for the second stage of the Dakar. It was extremely hot during the stage, which I felt was a real test for the heart, not only because of the heat but also because we ran out of water in the final 30 kilometers.”
Faced with such difficult conditions, Zhou Yong said it was their composure that helped them overcome the challenges: “In these 520 kilometers, we only had about a 10-minute ‘loss,’ but we stayed very calm.”
“Today’s terrain was complex—starting with a typical rally stage with high speeds and sharp turns, then lots of dust, followed by sandy patches, then back to rally sections. The pace kept shifting, with top speeds reaching 190 km/h and lows dropping to just 40 or 50 km/h. Such shifts in rhythm are very demanding for drivers,” Zhou Yong said. Speaking of his co-driver, he added: “This was our second stage together with Andy (Andreas Schulz), and our coordination was very good today. Aside from that 10-minute ‘small loss,’ everything else was fine—that’s normal. Starting 31st and finishing 20th, we’re very satisfied.”