2010 Dakar - All 5 Racing Lancers still in the Race after Stage 6

All 5 JMB STRADALE RACING LANCERS IN THE FIRST 13 POSITIONS !

Iquique, in the north of Chile, is the destination point of the competitors after 418 km of timed special for a total distance of 598 km. All of the JMB Racing Lancers departed within the first 20 places and came and all came in within the first 13 places for the arrival of the 6th stage.

Nicolas Misslin and Jean-Michel Polato obtained the best time of the JMB Stradale off Road team acquiring the 6th best time of the day, 18mn and 24 s behind the day’s winner, Stephane Peterhansel. The two southern boys gain two places in the general ranking bringing them up to 17th position. “This morning I attacked hard as I do not want to be in the other competitors dust!” stared Nicolas Misslin. “We passed a lot of cars at

first but I had to slow down as when landing from a jumb, my navigator hurt his back. After this, I drove at approximately 70 percent capacity as I did not wish for him to be in agony.

The most regular crew members of the team, Sousa-Baumel, placed 7th of the day and are now in 4th place in the general ranking. “At first, most people were a little lost at the beginning of the stage and Matthieu did a great job navigating and kept us on track” comments Carlos Sousa. “Every day, we try not to make mistakes. As of tomorrow, we’re going to have to define a team strategy as up until now we’ve been driving on

individual bases.

The Terranova-Maimon team continues to have small mishaps: « I’m wiped out » states Orly Terranova. “From the start of the special, we had no brakes and we also had a puncture. My co-driver kept telling me to place the pedal to the metal but I couldn’t go any faster as it would have been dangerous. Tonight the problem will be fixed and tomorrow will be a better day”. The crew came in 11th of the day and fell back to 19th position in the general ranking.

Guilherme Spinelli and Filipe Palmeiro came in 12th and have maintained their 9th position in the general ranking. Satisfied with their day, Guilherme simply stated: “We have not yet made a navigational error and have had no punctures. Only once, we were stuck in the sand however we were able to get unstuck quickly.

Our objective is to continue this rhythm until Buenos Aires. “

The Portuguese tadem Barbosa-Ramalho lost some time at the beginning of the special to come in 12th. They maintain their 11th place in the general ranking. “During the first half of the special, we doubled the Kamaz trucks. However, after we had a puncture and they went by us while we were changing the tire. After this, we were obliged to stay behind them which slowed us down as we were driving in their dust. It was only after the CP3 that we were able to get ahead and from this point on, all went well. I liked this stage and the road book seemed much better.”

The 7th stage will take the same direction as of today but in the opposite direction….The Dakar 2010 competitors will run the longest time clocked stage of the rally as the timed portion represents 600 km of the total 641 km of the day. The course will be varied with dunes, rocky and rapid tracks. A day which will require much concentration before the rest day!