17 AUG. 2017 ZOUMOD⇒SAYHAN OVOO
L：74.38km S：258.42km L：1.25km S：186.09km L：19.45km TOTAL：539.59km
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#8 Fukuoka Crashes!
Today the beautiful scenery along the vast winding panorama was enough to make all participants want to gasp in amazement.
Rider #8 Fukuoka fell near the SS-1 finish point and was transported by helicopter for emergency treatment. He sustained a pressure fracture of the lower spine. Fukuoka seemed healthy and in good spirits. On this day, rider #7 Ojima also fell just before the SS-2 goal with his bike getting heavily damage around the handlebars and gas tank but luckily he was not injured and somehow made it to the goal while still stubbornly maintaining his rally position ranking.
With the Can-Am pair still firmly protecting their first and second place positions, #109 in a TOYOTA TACOMA gradually came from behind to close the gap to 6 minutes. Final victory will be seen tomorrow beginning with a simultaneous group start and the final phase of the rally has been changed to the sand dunes which will prove the highlight of the rally.
Anyhow, the large number of vehicles retiring early from the rally makes it seem like some kind of survival race but surprisingly the automobile division was still intact with no retirees and no teams encountering any serious trouble. This rally also shows the extremely high skill level of the Mongolian group.
