RECORD-BREAKING TEAM REPSOL MITSUBISHI RALLIART CLAIM SEVENTH SUCCESSIVE DAKAR RALLY VICTORY
21 January 2007
DAKAR -
Liaison 77kms / SS 16kms
Total 93kms
Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart
Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart rewrote the history books by claiming a seventh successive victory in the punishing 2007 Dakar Rally after the final 16km special stage, near Dakar, in Sénégal on Sunday.
The success was a record-breaking 12th win in the team’s 25-year history of competing in the world’s toughest and most famous off-road rally. The French crew of Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret won the event for the third time in four years in their Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution and beat their team mates and defending champions Luc Alphand and Gilles Picard by a margin of just seven minutes 26 seconds, after 15 days of bruising competition across Portugal, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali and Sénégal.
Stephane Peterhansel/Jean Paul Cottret (1st place)
"I was very nervous on the last big African special stage yesterday and I just drove very slowly on the beach this morning," said Peterhansel. "It was not necessary to do the show for the crowd and the television on the last stage. When I won my first motorcycle race in Tunisia, I did not win a special stage, so in my head it was never a problem not to win a special stage on this Dakar. It is not that important.
"Taking the overall victory on the Dakar is the important thing. It is the best feeling. Our new MPR13 is very good and very fast, but I am sure that we can make even more improvements this year before we come back to try and win the Dakar again in 2008."
The Japanese manufacturer hit the front on the ninth special stage between Tichit and Néma in the Mauritanian Sahel, when long-time leader Giniel de Villiers suffered turbocharger problems and lost his place in the top 10. For the last six days of the rally, Mitsubishi controlled proceedings through careful team management, a professional approach by each of the drivers and thorough car preparation to record victory without the need to take a single stage win.
Stephane Peterhansel (left, 1st place)/Luc Alphand (right, 2nd place)
Mitsubishi also failed to clinch a stage win in 2001 when Jutta Kleinschmidt and Andreas Schulz clinched overall victory for the Japanese manufacturer. The statistic proved that individual stage wins on an event of the punishing nature of the Dakar are largely irrelevant.
"I won the race last year, but the important thing was to give the team victory again this time," said runner-up Alphand. "This morning it was like a party on the beach, with friends, the ocean and the victory. We proved that we have great team spirit, real determination and the best group of people."
Mitsubishi's winning 1-2 photo finish
Japan’s Hiroshi Masuoka and Pascal Maimon lost their chance of taking a podium finish with two time-consuming clutch problems and a series of flat tires, but the twice former winner reached Lac Rose in fifth position after a late time penalty cost rival Nasser Al-Attiyah his place in the top five.
"This is my first Dakar finish for three years and it was a nice feeling to reach the end," said Masuoka. "But I had some problems in the early stages and this cost me my chance of a win. The team has again proved that experience is crucial on an event like the Dakar. Now we can look forward to the future and our continued success in this rally."
Spaniards Joan ’Nani’ Roma and Lucas Cruz finished their first Dakar Rally together in 13th position, after clutch problems and a low-speed roll in the Mauritanian sand dunes pushed them out of contention. They were 10th fastest on the final stage, near Dakar, on Sunday, despite the fact that Roma was competing with a broken thumb after the incident with a tree stump on Saturday en route to Dakar.
"It was not my turn to win the Dakar this year, but it has been another great learning curve for me," said Roma. "It was my first event with Lucas and we have worked well together. I had some problems, but it is great to see the team continuing its winning streak. I can look forward to another season with Mitsubishi and planning ahead for the next Dakar, when it could be my turn to take the victory."
Drivers and co-drivers of the Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart
Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart management dedicated the Dakar win to the memory of co-driver Henri Magne, who lost his life in a tragic accident during last June’s Rally of Morocco. His wife and adopted child joined the team for the podium at Lac Rose. Magne won the Dakar Rally on two occasions and was third overall last year with Joan ’Nani’ Roma.
"I am very proud that we have managed to record the seventh win in seven years," said MMSP’s Managing and Sporting Director Dominique Serieys. "The new car won out of the box with a couple of minor problems with some external components and this bodes well for the ongoing development throughout 2007 and into 2008. I don’t think that this was a difficult Dakar. For sure, our strategy was different this time, but you can see from the number of finishers that it was maybe an easier race than previous years. We had many more difficult battles with Citroën in previous Dakars.
"Last summer we suffered the tragic loss of Henri Magne and he is always in our thoughts. But life has to go on. For that reason we have dedicated this victory to his honour and to his wife Lucette and baby Louis, who have joined us in Dakar to share this special and emotional occasion."
"I am very happy for the entire team that we have achieved this victory," said Osama Nakayama, General Manager, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation Okazaki R&D Motor Sports Team. "But it was very difficult this year. Volkswagen made great progress with their cars and it was a super fight for many days. We had some problems with the clutch, but the new MPR13 has won its first Dakar outing. For the future we will look to improve our chances of retaining the Dakar title and begin to develop environmentally-friendly technologies through our Cross-Country motor sport program."
Out of a capacity entry of 185 cars, 247 bikes and quads and 85 trucks, only 109 cars, 132 bikes and quads and 59 trucks reached the finish in Dakar after a shortened route of 7,915km, of which 4,309km were competitive.
Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart will concentrate on further developing the Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution over the coming months and will embark upon a new FIA Cross-Country Rally World Cup program this season.
China’s Lui Bin and Thailand’s Pornsiriched finish Dakar Rally in 47th and 67th positions
Frenchman Housieaux leads Mitsubishi privateers in 19th
Novitskiy (20th), Soloviev (53rd) and Kolberg (57th) complete 2007 Dakar
China’s Lui Bin and French co-driver Serge Henninot survived a 10-minute scare at Lac Rose to complete the Dakar Rally in 47th place. They were classified last on the special stage, but the Chinese driver was understandably delighted with his success at reaching the finish.
"The objective was to reach Dakar and we achieved that target," said Bin. "It was a very difficult and long race, but I gained in confidence each day and managed to survive the very hard days in Mauritania. I enjoyed my first taste of the dunes and was confident that I could reach the finish once we were through Mauritania."
Frenchman Dominique Housieaux and co-driver Jean-Michel Polato were the leading Mitsubishi privateers to finish the event this year in 19th overall at the wheel of a Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero, one place ahead of the Russian driver Russian Leonid Novitskiy in his Mitsubishi L200 Triton.
Thailand’s Mana Pornsiriched and French co-driver Jean Brucy finished the rally in 67th position in their Mitsubishi L200 Triton.
"It is a fantastic feeling to reach Dakar," said Pornsiriched. "There were times over the last two weeks when I did not think it would be possible to complete the rally. But the mechanics did a fantastic job to keep us in the rally and we made it to the finish. It’s a great day for me."
Brazilian Klever Kolberg completed the rally in 57th place and Russian Yaroslav Soloviev was 53rd in their Mitsubishi Pajeros/Monteros.
Lac Rose (Pink Lake), Dakar, Senegal
Final Overall Standings
-MMSP
In the 2007 Dakar Rally Volkswagen – having clinched ten of 14 possible stage victories and leading the event for eight days – was the dominant team in the field, but in the overall classification the factory team headed by Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen was not rewarded for its performance.
After 8,000 kilometres factory driver Mark Miller (USA) and his co-driver Ralph Pitchford (South Africa) in the Race Touareg 2, as the make’s best pairing, finished in fourth place overall. Prior to this, a defect on a cam follower in the valve train of the diesel engine, which had never occurred before in countless kilometres of testing and competition, had robbed the German automotive manufacturer that had been successfully defending its lead up to this point of all chances for victory.
On all the competition days and in highly varied terrain the Race Touareg powered by a 285-hp 2.5-litre TDI turbodiesel engine had been proving its strengths: From the first to the eighth stage the Volkswagen drivers were leading the 29th running of the desert classic. In the final analysis, this shows a significant improvement over the prior year when the squad finished with five days of leading the rally and five stage victories. On the ninth stage both of the best-placed Race Touareg prototypes were struck by an identical engine defect that caused them to suffer an unrecoverable set-back: Giniel de Villiers (South Africa), runner-up in last year’s ‘Dakar’, with co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz (Germany), who had been leading with a half-hour advantage up to that point, and Carlos Sainz (Spain) with co-driver Michel Périn (France), who had been running in second place up to the eighth stage.
In the following chase to make up ground the factory team and the drivers gave proof of their unbroken sporting spirit: In a fantastic showing Carlos Sainz – in his second "Dakar” the front runner from the third to the sixth day of the competition and two-time stage winner up to that point – delivered a series of three further stage victories, starting with the twelfth leg. In the end, the Spaniard finished in ninth position overall. Giniel de Villiers, who clinched four stage wins, including two of the three most difficult stages in Mauritania, and was leading the field on the seventh and eighth stages, ultimately improved from 13th to eleventh position.
Carlos Sousa/Andy Schulz
The Portuguese Carlos Sousa and his German co-driver Andy Schulz proved that in a customer-run Race Touareg 2 excellent showings are possible as well. The duo from the Portugese Lagos Team, for whose fielding the German squad of Phoenix Sport headed by Team Director Ernst Moser was responsible, won the first stage, had the overall lead on the rally’s first two days and defended third place up to the sixth stage. On the seventh stage the duo got stuck in the sand but was able to free itself. In the heavy sandstorm, though, the driver and co-driver unfortunately lost sight of each other and a lot of time in the process of looking for one another. Sousa/Schulz finished the rally at the famous Lac Rose in seventh place overall.
The four-time Dakar Rally winner Ari Vatanen from Finland in the fourth Race Touareg, navigated by his Italian co-driver Fabrizia Pons, on the second stage dropped back to 113th place after a driving mistake while passing through water. On the seventh day a fire of the vehicle put a premature end to the duo’s running.
-Volkswagen Motorsports
PETERHANSEL AND ALPHAND MAINTAIN TEAM REPSOL MITSUBISHI RALLIART’S FIRST AND SECOND PLACES AS EVENT ARRIVES IN DAKAR
20 January 2007
Tambacounda - Dakar
Liaison 351kms / SS 225kms
Total 576kms
Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart arrived in the Sénégalese capital of Dakar firmly in command of the 29th Dakar Rally, after the penultimate special stage between Tambacounda and Dakar on Saturday.
Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret
The French duo of Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret began the last of the longer African special stages 11m 15s ahead of team mates Luc Alphand and Gilles Picard and maintained the overall lead, despite the fact that Alphand reduced their overall advantage to 7m 16s on the special.
Today’s stage offered many potential last minute pitfalls as it wound its way through populated areas and over tricky parallel tracks where accurate navigation was of paramount importance and there were numerous speed checks. Only 136 bikes, 109 cars and 60 trucks survived to take the start of the special.
Neither of the overall leaders had any intention of pushing too hard and it was no surprise that a third successive stage win eventually fell to Spaniard Carlos Sainz. Alphand and Peterhansel eventually finished the stage in seventh and 11th positions, but head into Sunday’s short competitive finale in a very strong position to extend Mitsubishi’s six-year winning streak on the Dakar.
Alphand/Picard
"I feel really happy to reach Dakar, but I was very nervous this morning," admitted Peterhansel. "Last year the navigation was not easy and we lost 20 minutes. It was not easy to find a good speed this morning. The track was not clear. It was possible to lose time so I started slowly. Marc Miller and Carlos Sousa passed me. On the second part of the stage we lost the track for a couple of minutes and I was very nervous. The speed restrictions helped us a lot. My eyes were always on the trip to check we were not going too fast."
"It’s a little frustrating for me to be second into Dakar, but it has been like this for the last few days," said Alphand. "Nevertheless it has been a great all-round team performance. I am very happy to reach Dakar. It was quite a strange stage this morning. There were 17 speed restriction zones and that made the navigation easier, because we were driving slower and there was a waypoint every five or six kilometres. Tomorrow is the beach and, hopefully, we will have a party with our friends at the podium."
Hiroshi Masuoka and Pascal Maimon began the stage 15th on the road and were classified 10th at the PC checkpoint. They eventually reached the stage finish in 13th position.
"No problems for me today," said Masuoka. "There were a lot of trees on the track and I just wanted to reach Dakar without problems and do my part for the team."
Spaniards Joan ’Nani’ Roma and Lucas Cruz started eighth in the running order this morning, but lost 10 minutes before the passage control, slipped to 27th on the stage and eventually finished in 26th position. Roma maintains 13th overall.
"We hit a low tree stump quite hard in a forest on my side of the car about 40km into the stage and it damaged the power steering," said Roma. "I also hurt my thumb in the steering wheel and it was very painful to finish the stage and drive the liaison."
"My feeling is that it is not yet over," said MMSP’s Managing and Sporting Director Dominique Serieys. "We will see tomorrow around midday after the last stage. I am very proud of our entire team that we have reached Dakar. Team work has been superb again this year."
China’s Lui Bin and Thailand’s Pornsiriched reach Dakar in 46th and 67th positions
Frenchman Housieaux leads Mitsubishi privateers in 19th
Novitskiy, Kolberg and Soloviev on track for memorable Dakar finish
Lui Bin/Serge Henninot
China’s Lui Bin and French co-driver Serge Henninot began the last of the longer African special stages in 47th position this morning and was on course to reach the Atlantic coast on his first ever Dakar. He lies 46th overall going into the final stage at Lac Rose on Sunday.
"The goal was to reach Dakar and we have made it here, but the job is not quite finished yet," said Bin. "We have one small stage to go and then we can say we have fulfilled the goal."
Frenchman Dominique Housieaux and co-driver Jean-Michel Polato began the day in 19th place and were 20th fastest into Dakar. They retained their position in the overall standings.
Mana Pornsiriched/Jean Brucy
Thailand’s Mana Pornsiriched and French co-driver Jean Brucy held 67th place as cars left Tambacouda and reached Dakar in 25th position to maintain 67th in the overall standings.
"We hit a small tree this morning and I reallu thought it was going to be a very serious problem," said Pornsiriched. "But the car is very strong and we did no real damage. Now I am very close to the finish and getting excited."
Russian Leonid Novitskiy maintained 20th overall into Dakar and was 15th on the day’ stage.
"Soon it may be time for a small glass of vodka for some of the team," said Novitskiy. "We had another good stage today and that gives me a good feeling for tomorrow."
Brazilian Klever Kolberg began the stage in 58th in the overall standings and finished in a superb 12th overall to maintain his climb up the leader board. Yaroslav Soloviev holds 48th overall after the day’s stage.
Tomorrow (Sunday) should have marked the first time that the Lac Rose section had not counted as a competitive Dakar stage. The special was to have run as a televised Grand Prix-style shoot-out between the leading teams and not counted for the overall classification. But event organisers decided to reinstate the traditional special and teams will tackle a nail-biting 16km of competitive action before the traditional podium finale.
-MMSP
TEAM REPSOL MITSUBISHI RALLIART EASE THROUGH FIRST SENEGALESE STAGE AND MAINTAIN FIRST AND SECOND OVERALL IN 2007 DAKAR RALLY
19 January 2007
Kayes - Tambacounda
Liaison 198kms / SS 260kms
Total 458kms
The Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart crew of Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret began the 13th special stage of the 2007 Dakar Rally between Kayes in Mali and Tambacounda in Sénégal, 6m 29s ahead of team mates Luc Alphand and Gilles Picard, on Friday.
Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret
But the twice former winners of the event extended their overall lead to 11m 15s after setting the second fastest time, behind stage winner Carlos Sainz, on the twisty and narrow special through eastern Sénégal. The two crews are now under instruction from team management to bring the two Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolutions to Dakar without any undue risks over the final two special stages at the weekend.
The organisers had warned that navigation would be tricky on the day’s stage and there would be several carefully monitored speed restriction zones through villages and heavily populated areas. The fact that bike race leader Marc Coma got lost and then crashed was a case in point. It was not a stage to be taken lightly.
"There was some very difficult navigation in the early part of the stage and then a wide track," said Peterhansel. "The end of the stage was very fast. It is much easier to race at higher speeds in the car. Jean-Paul did a great job on the navigation and that was so important. We beat the bikes by around 30 minutes today. This race is never finished until you see the podium. The leader of the motorbikes today was a harsh example of that. It was good to finish the stage.
"Tomorrow is not too long, but I remember the stage was difficult last year and several crews lost a lot of time. We have a good position behind Carlos Sainz on the road. He is fast so we should be okay."
Luc Alphand/Gilles Picard
Luc Alphand and Gilles Picard began the special stage in third position and set the sixth fastest time to conserve second place.
"It is always quite an easy stage when you have the right track," said Alphand. "It was easier for the cars with a co-driver than it was for the bikes. We decided this morning to stay behind Carlos Sainz and Carlos Sousa and behave. Both mirrors and both wings are intact on our car, so that proves we drove very sensibly."
Joan ’Nani’ Roma/Lucas Cruz
Joan ’Nani’ Roma and Lucas Cruz were fifth into the stage in the third Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution and eventually set the eighth fastest time to retain 13th overall.
"Near the end of the stage I hit a small tree, under braking, and we damaged the front right wing of the car, but it was just panel damage," said Roma. "After that I had one right-hand puncture and that’s where we lost the time. Today was a case of being careful."
Hiroshi Masuoka/Pascal Maimon
Hiroshi Masuoka and Pascal Maimon were forced to start the stage in 19th place this morning and lost several minutes trailing in Stéphane Henrard’s dust. They set the 15th fastest time.
"For 150km we followed in the dust of the Buggy," said Masuoka. "We tried to get passed but it was not possible. The stage was very difficult. It was narrow and twisty. We passed a Nissan, which had crashed, and we were careful to the finish."
"It was a great shame for Marc Coma in the bike category, but this proves that this race is never finished until you reach the final stage in Dakar," said MMSP’s Managing and Sporting Director Dominique Serieys. "We will stay quiet and very humble. All our drivers are safely through the stage. Our drivers are professional and know that in the interest of Mitsubishi Motors we should try all we can to reach Dakar in the same positions as we are in now."
China’s Lui Bin and Thai Pornsiriched hold 47th and 66th places in Tambacounda
Lui Bin/Serge Henninot
China’s Lui Bin and French co-driver Serge Henninot were classified 49th at the start of the 13th special stage and set the 31st fastest time into Tambacounda. The pair gained two places in the overall classification to 47th.
"We learned from the stage yesterday that these last stages are tiring and it is easy to make a mistake," said Bin. "Now I have one large stage to go and I am beginning to think that we can make it to the finish."
Frenchman Dominique Housieaux and co-driver Jean-Michel Polato began the day in 19th place in the overall standings and set the 19th fastest time.
Mana Pornsiriched/Jean Brucy
Thailand’s Mana Pornsiriched and French co-driver Jean Brucy held 68th overall on the run out of Kayes and finished the stage in a fine 22nd overall. The Thai moved up to 66th place.
"The stage was very narrow," said Pornsiriched. "There were many small trees and it was easy to lose the way. Jean did a good job. He has experience of these stages from his days on a motorcycle."
Russian Leonid Novitskiy finished the special in 18th position and holds 20th overall, while Brazilian Klever Kolberg held 59th overall at the start of the day and finished the stage into Tambacounda in a superb 16th place, just over a minute behind Hiroshi Masuoka. He now holds 57th in the overall standings.
"I just wish that I could have had good stages like this one last week and during the first days on the Dakar," said Kolberg. "Then we would have been looking at a very good result. The object now is just to reach the finish."
Yaroslav Soloviev held 52nd this morning and was 47th into Tambacounda to remain in 52nd place.
"It was a very good day for the entire team," admitted team spokesman Angelo das Sujit. "We had no punctures, no damaged cars, we hit no trees and we don’t have too much work to do on the cars for tomorrow. If only every day was like that on the Dakar!"
The last of the traditional African special stages – a 225km section between Tambacounda and Dakar in Sénégal – takes place tomorrow (Saturday). The route consists of a wide range of twisty and fast roads through villages and populated areas and starts 124km to the west of Tambacounda at the town of Koumpentoum. The route heads north towards Velingara and turns west to a finish near Mbake. A 227km liaison steers teams into Dakar.
-MMSP
TEAM REPSOL MITSUBISHI RALLIART SAFELY THROUGH STAGE INTO KAYES TO MAINTAIN OVERALL LEAD
18 January 2007
Ayoun - Kayes
Liaison 227kms / SS 257kms
Total 484kms
Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart drivers Stéphane Peterhansel and Luc Alphand stayed in firm control of the 29th Dakar Rally, after the 257km special stage between Ayoûn-el-Atroûs in Mauritania and Kayes in north-western Mali on Thursday. But Alphand and co-driver Gilles Picard managed to reduce Peterhansel’s and Jean-Paul Cottret’s overall lead to just 6m 29s.
Peterhansel and Cottret began the day in fourth position and were a cautious eighth through the first passage control. They finished the stage in sixth place and maintained a reduced lead in the overall standings.
"The stage was very narrow in places between many small trees and we touched one tree on the right-hand side of the car," said Peterhansel. "But the car was perfect otherwise. The stage offered very tricky navigation. About 50km from the end we lost the track and a little time."
Alphand/Picard
Alphand and Picard were sixth into the stage this morning and the fourth fastest crew through PC1. Despite taking no risks, the defending champions set the third fastest time and managed to reduce their team mates’ overall lead to 6m 29s with three stages remaining.
"We started behind Carlos Sainz and he really pushed, so we had a clear track for much of the stage and were able to gain some time," said Alphand. "Now we have to be quiet and intelligent. We had a little navigation problem, about 600 metres the wrong way, but it was the same for several drivers."
Hiroshi Masuoka/Pascal Maimon
Hiroshi Masuoka and Pascal Maimon followed Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah into this morning’s stage in second position and were under team orders to slow down and wait for team mate Peterhansel and shadow him to the stage finish. Masuoka was 19th at PC1 and reached the stage finish in 19th position, although he duly slipped behind the American Marc Miller into sixth overall.
"I played the waiting game today to make sure that the other team drivers were okay," said Masuoka. "It was difficult to avoid the small trees. It will be very difficult for the trucks running behind us on the stage."
Joan ’Nani’ Roma/Lucas Cruz
Joan ’Nani’ Roma and Lucas Cruz started eighth on the road into Kayes, but were six seconds faster than Carlos Sainz at the first PC and the virtual leaders on the stage. Roma eventually finished fifth on the special, which was won by Sainz from Portugal’s Carlos Sousa.
"I was running very well to the first PC," said Roma. "But, after the water, I caught a Mitsubishi and thought it was Luc in the dust. I followed him, but it was Hiroshi. We both took the wrong route and both cars had to turn around. I lost a little time there, but more time following in Hiroshi’s dust. There are only about 500km of racing to go, but they will feel very long…"
"It was a good day for us," said MMSP’s Managing and Sporting Director Dominique Serieys. "We now have to be very careful over the next three days and keep our concentration. There is a great spirit within our team. I will have a chat tonight with Isao Torii and we will discuss a team strategy. Tomorrow’s stage through Black Africa is very narrow and technical and we don’t want a fight between our two drivers on the stages. They are professional and will fully understand the situation."
China’s Lui Bin and Thai Pornsiriched hold 49th and 68th places in Kayes
Lui Bin/Serge Henninot
China’s Lui Bin and French co-driver Serge Henninot began the stage in 46th overall and 28th position on the stage. They were 42nd fastest into Kayes and slipped to 49th place.
"It was okay today, but I think the stage was more tiring than the last two specials in Mauritania," said Bin. "It was more like a jungle. There were some low trees with no tops, just roots and stumps. It was easy to break the suspension. I broke a mirror on the tree, but nothing serious."
Frenchman Dominique Housieaux and co-driver Jean-Michel Polato were the 39th team into today’s stage in their Mitsubishi L200 Triton and finished 23rd. They remain the leading Mitsubishi privateers in 19th place.
Mana Pornsiriched/Jean Brucy
Thailand’s Mana Pornsiriched and French co-driver Jean Brucy were classified 24th at the finish of the day’s stage and now hold 68th overall.
"The stage today reminded me of a typical special in Thailand," said Pornsiriched. "It was not so difficult, but more of a test for my co-driver and his navigation skills. We hit three tiny trees today. There was no major damage, but just some scratches on the car."
Russian Leonid Novitskiy was 21st on the road this morning, while Brazilian Klever Kolberg began this morning’s stage 22nd on the road, behind the Russian. The Brazilian finished the stage in an excellent 20th position and now holds 59th, while the Russian is 21st overall after setting the 15th fastest time.
"The landscape and the scenery in Mali were very beautiful," said Novitskiy. "There were many small baobab trees on the stage and we were very careful. We grazed some gently, but nothing too serious. No problems with the car."
Yaroslav Soloviev was 43rd of the 111 starters to leave Ayoûn-el-Atroûs this morning and finished the stage in 35th place to hold 52nd position.
Tomorrow (Friday) is the penultimate of the longer Dakar Rally stages and begins with a 180km liaison across the border into Sénégal. Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart will then tackle a varied 260km special on stony terrain and across laterite piste to finish a mere 18km from the Sénégalese town of Tambacounda, a regular stopover on the Dakar Rally and the final bivouac on this year’s event.
There are now only around 1,127km for competitors to cross before they reach the finish in Dakar and a mere 501km are competitive.
-MMSP
TEAM REPSOL MITSUBISHI RALLIART TAKE ROAD SECTION TO AYOUN-EL-ATROUS BEFORE FINAL STAGES TO DAKAR
17 January 2007
Néma – Ayoûn-el-Atroûs
Liaison 280kms
Total 280kms
TEAM REPSOL MITSUBISHI RALLIART TAKE ROAD SECTION TO AYOUN-EL-ATROUS BEFORE FINAL STAGES TO DAKAR
Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart enjoyed a welcome break from competition on Wednesday, after the day’s special stage had been cancelled in late December and turned into a non-competitive liaison.
Instead of returning from the legendary Mali town of Timbuktu on Wednesday morning, the entire Dakar caravan embarked upon a 280km liaison section from Néma to Ayoûn-el-Atroûs and the event will continue as normal towards Kayes on Thursday.
Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart support truck (MAN)
Assistance crews were requested to leave the windswept and dusty bivouac in Néma between 07.00hrs and 09.00hrs and then the surviving 142 motorcycles left at 11.00hrs. The 112 cars and 60 trucks departed from 13.00hrs on the three-hour journey to the next bivouac, set adjacent to a remote, sandy and blustery airstrip between desert bushes and clumps of parched grass, located on the southern tip of the vast Mauritanian Sahel.
There were rigid speed restrictions in place on the liaison section this morning, for both the assistance and competition cars. There are now just three longer timed special stages and the short sprint around Lac Rose standing between Mitsubishi and a potential seventh successive and 12th overall Dakar victory.
Over the course of the next four days, Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart drivers Stéphane Peterhansel, Luc Alphand, Hiroshi Masuoka and Joan ’Nani’ Roma will drive 1,601km, of which 758km will take place on timed special stages. The team’s four Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolutions currently hold first, second, fifth and 13th places in the overall classification.
Tomorrow (Thursday) the schedule returns to its near-original format with a 257km competitive section between Ayoûn-el-Atroûs in Mauritania and Kayes in the Republic of Mali. A 110km liaison heads in a southerly direction to the start of the timed section near Kobenni. Teams then head across the border to a finish near Tambakafa and a 117km liaison takes cars through several populated areas into Kayes.
-MMSP
TEAM REPSOL MITSUBISHI RALLIART MAINTAIN IRON GRIP ON DAKAR RALLY AFTER NEMA LOOP STAGE
16 January 2007
Néma - Néma
Liaison 34kms / SS 366kms
Total 400kms
Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart maintained firm control of the 29th Dakar Rally, after the 366km loop stage around the Néma bivouac in Mauritania on Tuesday.
All four Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolutions reached the bivouac without any problems or without the drivers taking any risks, but Stéphane Peterhansel’s and Jean-Paul Cottret’s fourth fastest time means they head into the 11th stage on Thursday, 9m 56s ahead of team mates Luc Alphand and Gilles Picard in the overall standings. Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah clinched his first ever Dakar Rally stage win, with Mitsubishi’s Hiroshi Masuoka in second place.
Luc Alphand/Gilles Picard
Alphand and Picard began the special behind Jean-Louis Schlesser’s Buggy, as they attempted to reduce Peterhansel’s 7m 50s overall lead. But Peterhansel had extended his advantage by 1m 41s at the 186km point and, despite following the defending champion for much of the special caught. He passed Alphand near the end.
Stephane Peterhansel/Jean Paul Cottret
"We caught Luc after about 150km and we stayed behind him in the dust and the soft sand," said Peterhansel. "Then, in an off-road section, we passed him about 10km from the end. But I drove more than 200km in the dust. It was not very comfortable. Today’s stage was not too fast and on a sandy track. It was not too hard, but we will see completely different terrain in the next few days and this was not very kind to me last year, so we will see."
Alphand was unable to claw back any time: "We had orders to preserve our cars this morning and, when we passed Schlesser, it was not easy to be the first car on the road. It is not easy to find a good pace. We will try again over the next few stages without taking any risks. Stéphane will be ahead of us on the next stage, so it will be a little easier."
Hiroshi Masuoka/Pascal Maimon
Hiroshi Masuoka and Pascal Maimon began the stage in fifth overall and were the fastest of the four Mitsubishi crews at PCs one and two, 1m 22s ahead of Peterhansel at the 259km point. The Japanese reached the finish in second position to consolidate fifth overall.
"It was an enjoyable stage, driving in between the small trees," said Masuoka. "It was difficult to overtake the bikes, because the riders were not able to leave the main track. For that reason we needed to be extra careful. When I caught Stéphane and Luc, I followed them and stayed behind to the stage finish without taking any risks."
Joan ’Nani’ Roma/Lucas Cruz
Joan ’Nani’ Roma and Lucas Cruz began the 10th stage in 13th position in the overall standings, after Carlos Sainz had been reinstated in the results in 10th place. Roma was seventh fastest through PC1 and eventually finished the stage in eighth to retain 13th place.
"We lost about a minute and a half with a tiny navigational mistake, but everything else was okay," said Roma. "After that I drove very carefully to make sure I did not break the car. The plan now is to follow the first two cars and stay in contact with them. The new partnership with Lucas is working well."
"Today’s stage was very different to the last two Marathon days," said MMSP’s Managing and Sporting Director Dominique Serieys. "It was not necessary to create a big fight by pushing. We have a cushion now and around 850km of special stages still to run. After the liaison tomorrow we will see. There is still some way to go. Hiroshi and ’Nani’ are now working to support our two lead drivers."
China’s Lui Bin and Thailand’s Pornsiriched safely into Nema
Lui Bin/Serge Henninot
China’s Lui Bin and French co-driver Serge Henninot began the stage in 52nd overall and 41st on the road and reached Nema with the 28th fastest time to move up to 46th position.
"It was again a good day for us," said Bin. "I think that Mauritanian stages are very good for us. Now I must make sure that I conserve the car that we damaged last week on the early stages. Dakar is getting closer every day and I hope to be able to continue without any big problems."
Frenchman Dominique Housieaux and former Mitsubishi factory co-driver Jean-Michel Polato had climbed to 19th overall at the start of the stage on Tuesday. They were 26th in today’s special stage and slipped to 20th.
Mana Pornsiriched/Jean Brucy
Thailand’s Mana Pornsiriched and French co-driver Jean Brucy were classified 70th overall at the start of the loop stage. They began the day’s stage 35th on the road and reached the finish in 35th position. "We are not too far away from Dakar now," said the Thai. "We are on the home straight and it is even more important that we preserve our car over the next few days."
Russian Leonid Novitskiy began Tuesday stage in 24th position and reached the finish in 21st place.
Yaroslav Soloviev was 55th and Brazilian Klever Kolberg was 67th overall. They arrived at the finish in 37th and 22nd, respectively, and the Russian is now 49th.
"I had no problems with my car, but we had a small problem on the stage with another car," said Kolberg. "I pulled over to let Giniel De Villiers go passed and then I saw him stopped in the middle of the stage with a motorcycle in front. We had problems getting passed him, but that was the only real thing today. We are not fighting for overall places any more. I am just trying to reach Dakar."
Tomorrow (Wednesday) will be an enforced rest day on the 29th Dakar Rally, the lack of competition brought about by the curtailment of competition between Néma and Timbuktu. Instead, teams will drive on a 280km liaison section from Néma to Ayoûn-el-Atroûs and competitive action will restart on Thursday morning.
-MMSP
TEAM REPSOL MITSUBISHI RALLIART SEIZE FIRST AND SECOND PLACES AFTER DRAMATIC DAY IN DAKAR RALLY
15 January 2007
Tichit - Néma
Liaison 3kms / SS 494kms
Total 497kms
Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart were the beneficiaries from a dramatic ninth special stage of the 29th Dakar Rally between Tichit and Néma in Mauritania on Monday.
After a dramatic turn of events, whereby overall rally leader Giniel de Villiers badly delayed with engine-related problems and arch rival Carlos Sainz stopped with electrical woes, the Mitsubishi crews of Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret and Luc Alphand/Gilles Picard arrived in Néma in first and second positions in the overall classification. They set the third and second fastest times on the tricky 494km special stage, which was won by Frenchman Jean-Louis Schlesser.
Peterhansel and Cottret headed into this morning’s stage behind overall leader de Villiers, but they were forced to stop and change the clutch. A late puncture failed to halt their progress and the winners of the Dakar in 2004 and 2005 arrived at the stage finish in third place to take the overall lead.
Stephane Peterhansel
"When I saw Giniel De Villiers had stopped and there was the start of a fire on his car, it was unbelievable," said Peterhansel. "He had driven a great race so far. After that Jean-Paul and I knew we were in a good position, but we had our own problems with the clutch and spent 15 minutes changing it. Carlos, Mark Miller and Schlesser passed us and I really tried to catch them all. Then I saw Carlos stopped after a big jump and began to follow Luc. But we had a puncture near the end and I had to stop and change the wheel."
Alphand and Picard began the stage in third position and were classified sixth at the first passage control. Problems for their rivals pushed the defending champions into overall contention and Alphand recorded the second fastest time to move up to second overall, 7m 50s behind his team mate.
Luc Alphand/Gilles Picard
"It was an amazing day," said Alphand. "We saw De Villiers stopped and thought it was good for us. But I knew that Stéphane was pushing. Then we saw that he had stopped as well and I knew that we would have to lift off, because my turn for some bad luck may have been just around the corner. Then Sainz, Miller and Stéphane caught me. My pace was not so fast. They passed me and then Carlos stopped again with Miller alongside. Then I saw Stéphane and we finished the stage! Amazing…"
Hiroshi Masuoka and Pascal Maimon were classified fifth through the first passage control and fourth at PC2. They eventually finished the stage in fourth place, despite changing two flat tires and stopping a third time to check for a potential slow puncture.
Hiroshi Masuoka/Pascal Maimon
"I had a good stage position today," said Masuoka. "But I think I could have won the special. I had two flat tires and stopped again once to check that the tires were okay. That was, perhaps, the difference between winning the stage and finishing fourth."
Joan ’Nani’ Roma and Lucas Cruz were able to cure the minor electrical problem, which had dogged their progress into Tichit, and restarted in 18th place overall. They were seventh quickest through PC1, after making rapid progress over the opening kilometres. They were up to fifth at PC2 and maintained that position to the finish. The Spaniards now lie just outside the top 10 in the overall standings.
"The engine and the car are working very well now," said Roma. "I did not want to push too hard, because I am working to help the rest of the team. I have a good starting position for the next stage, so I will do my best to support the other three cars."
"I said to many people in Atar that the differences between the drivers at the rest day were very small," said MMSP’s Managing and Sporting Director Dominique Serieys. "Anything and everything can happen in Mauritania. After one very hard week in Morocco there is always a strain on the cars. The rally will be very difficult until Tambacounda, and maybe even Dakar. Now we are leading, we are not under pressure. But we have to manage our new strategy in a very intelligent way."
"It was a very positive day, but we have to take great care now for the final days," said MMSP’s President Isao Torii. "We will do our best. I feel very sorry for Volkswagen, but that is the nature of this rally. It is so unpredictable."
China’s Lui Bin and Russian Novitskiy enjoy clean runs into Néma
Frenchman Housieaux leads Mitsubishi privateer challenge in 19th
Thailand’s Pornsiriched back on the pace into Néma
China’s Lui Bin and French co-driver Serge Henninot finished the Atar to Tichit stage in a highly-creditable 35th position, after the driver’s first real taste of the one of the most difficult special stages on the Dakar Rally. He held 51st overall at the start of the stage into Néma this morning and was unofficially classified as 39th at 18.10hrs and moved up to 46th overall.
Lui Bin/Serge Henninot
"It was a long stage into Tichit, very tough, said Bin. "There were many cars stuck at the start of the stage and I did not want to follow them into trouble, so I found a route around the problems and it worked very well.
"Today was a very good day. I had just one puncture and four times I got stuck in the sand. The car is perfect. There are no problems at all and I am starting to enjoy the rally. After seven stages in Africa I am learning how to manage the pace and how to work really well with my co-driver."
Frenchman Dominique Housieaux and former Mitsubishi factory co-driver Jean-Michel Polato were the leading privateer crew in the Dakar at the start of the Tichit to Néma stage. Housieaux was 20th fastest into Tichit and held a similar position overall. The Frenchman finished 25th in the stage into Néma and climbed a place to 19th overall.
"I have been driving with great care," admitted the Frenchman. "I stopped in the dunes to inflate and deflate the tires yesterday. It takes time, but it is worth it. Patience is the name of the game for me on some of the very difficult stages."
Mana Pornsiriched/Jean Brucy
Thailand’s Mana Pornsiriched and French co-driver Jean Brucy arrived in the Tichit bivouac at 03.56 hrs on Monday morning and didn’t have long to catch up on some much-needed rest before taking the start of the stage into Néma at 10.29 hrs. The lack of sleep failed to stop the Thai driver finishing the stage in an excellent 31st position.
"I had no punctures today and I did not get stuck," said Pornsiriched. "I actually enjoyed the beautiful scenery here in Mauritania. It was a real shame that I had problems in Atar yesterday morning with the fuel pump, otherwise it would have been a perfect Marathon stage for me."
Russian Leonid Novitskiy finished the Tichit to Néma stage in 29th position and held 26th in the overall classification at the start of the day’s stage. He completed Monday’s special in 19th place and moved up to 23rd overall.
Brazilian Klever Kolberg restarted this morning from the rear of the field, alongside Mana Pornsiriched, after delays into Tichit, but he enjoyed an excellent stage and set the 21st fastest time.
Tomorrow (Tuesday), teams will follow an amended route after the ASO announced on December 23rd that the route of the 29th Dakar Rally would not head across Malian territory to the tourist outpost at Timbuktu. Instead of the tricky special to the remote outpost, teams will tackle a 366km loop section around Néma, starting 10km from the bivouac and finishing 24km away.
Néma is surrounded by vast expanses of sandy wasteland and, according to the ASO, this stage is a worthy replacement for the Timbuktu special.
-MMSP
