RALLY OF TUNISIA
author: Leon Botha
STAGE 2 : SABRIA – KSAR GHILANE – Tuesday 8 April 2003
Liaison: 6km
Special Stage: 291km
Liaison: 3km – TOTAL: 300km
THE PROUDLY SOUTH AFRICAN NISSAN HARDBODY STILL UP AT THE FRONT
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Leon Botha
A few problems for the Nissan, but still very much in contention.
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297 kilometres long, the second leg of the Optic 2000 Rally of Tunisia, from Sabria to the Ksar Ghilane oasis, gave the Proudly South African Nissan Hardbody of Giniel De Villiers a few worries. Mechanical problems 30 km from the finish line meant that he was forced to finish the stage at a slow pace which caused them to finish 25 minutes adrift. Despite this setback, Giniel and Tina managed to retain their third place in the overall classification of this second round of the 2003 World Off-Road Rally Championship.
“I found this stage considerably harder than the Dakar stage in the same area, last January. We got lost twice in the dunes,” Giniel explained. “Furthermore, during a long straight section, covered with transversal sand bars, we hit the front of the car extremely hard. We have to hope that our mechanics will be able to solve our engine problem (valve or cam-shaft), which is exactly the same problem I encountered during the last stage of the Dakar at Sharm-El-Sheik. It is very important for us to continue this rally, and to measure ourselves against our rivals. “
Today’s good news came from Spanish driver Marc Blazquez, whose navigator is Frenchman Pascal Maimon (Giniel de Villiers’ co-driver during the last Dakar). At the wheel of a Tecnosport-prepared Nissan Patrol, Marc set the 8th time of the stage, during his very first participation in an African rally. A number of small problems slightly quenched his eagerness: « The clutch started to slip at the 200 km mark, and we were close to running out of fuel by the end of the stage.” As for Pascal Maimon, he is increasingly surprised as the days go by: “Marc is still ‘learning’ the sand, but he has a wonderful way with the wheel…”
The Nissan Dessoude Team has been performing well at the start of this rally. Posteau-Antoniolli, in a Patrol, was 13th in the stage and 11th overall, while Vandromme–Fagot, in a Pathfinder, set the day’s 17th fastest time, and is 12th overall. An excellent team effort. Finally, the line-up of Conreau and Vinel were 37th in the stage and 32nd overall.
Tomorrow, a 300-km stage will take the competitors, after a 47 km liaison section, to El Borma. With plenty of riverbeds to cross, and a rather tricky route, plenty of surprises could be in store … before tackling the famous El Borma-El Borma loop the day after.
• Classification Stage 2: SABRIA- KSAR GHILANE
Pos N° Crew Nat Make Gr/Cl Time Gap
1 201 PETERHANSEL-COTTRET FRA MITSUBISHI 2/1 1.1/1 03h15'28 00h00'00
2 207 BIASION-SIVIERO ITA MITSUBISHI 2/2 1.1/2 03h24'52 00h09'24
3 210 DE VILLIERS-THORNER RSA NISSAN 2/3 1.1/3 03h40'45 00h25'17
4 230 MISSLIN-POLATO FRA MITSUBISHI 2/4 1.1/4 03h44'17 00h28'49
5 200 SCHLESSER-LURQUIN FRA SCHLESSER 2/5 2.1/1 03h51'57 00h36'29
6 203 MAGNALDI-BORSOTTO FRA HONDA 2/6 2.1/2 03h55'38 00h40'10
7 212 KOMORNICKI-MARTON POL MITSUBISHI 2/7 1.1/5 04h10'45 00h55'17
8 234 BLAZQUEZ-MAIMON ESP NISSAN 2/8 1.1/6 04h18'19 01h02'51
9 202 MONTERDE-TORNABELL ESP MITSUBISHI 2/9 1.2/1 04h26'51 01h11'23
10 222 MIRANDE-DELLI ZOTTI FRA PROTO 2/10 1.1/7 04h37'52 01h22'24
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13 295 POSTEAU-ANTONIOLLI FRA NISSAN 2/13 1.1/8 04h45'04 01h29'36
16 211 LARTIGUE-MORIN AND NISSAN 2/16 1.2/4 04h52'32 01h37'04
17 223 VANDROMME-FAGOT FRA NISSAN 2/17 1.1/10 04h53'38 01h38'10
21 224 BARBIER BARBIER FRA NISSAN 2/20 1.2/6 05h15'28 02h00'00
27 232 MICHELARD-COIRIER TUN NISSAN 2/26 1.1/14 05h22'29 02h07'01
…
• General Classification after Leg 2 SABRIA- KSAR GHILANE
Pos N° Crew Nat Make Gr/Cl Time Gap
1 201 PETERHANSEL-COTTRET FRA MITSUBISHI 2/1 1.1/1 05h40'38 00h00'00
2 207 BIASION-SIVIERO ITA MITSUBISHI 2/2 1.1/2 05h51'46 00h11'08
3 210 DE VILLIERS-THORNER AFS NISSAN 2/3 1.1/3 06h11'03 00h30'25
4 200 SCHLESSER-LURQUIN FRA SCHLESSER 2/4 2.1/1 06h26'08 00h45'30
5 230 MISSLIN-POLATO FRA MITSUBISHI 2/5 1.1/4 06h26'17 00h45'39
6 212 KOMORNICKI-MARTON POL MITSUBISHI 2/6 1.1/5 07h07'57 01h27'19
7 202 MONTERDE-TORNABELL ESP MITSUBISHI 2/7 1.2/1 07h24'00 01h43'22
8 229 MAYER-SCHULZ ALL MITSUBISHI 2/8 1.2/2 07h42'51 02h02'13
9 227 LECHLEITER-GUYON FRA VOLKSWAGEN 2/9 2.2/1 07h46'21 02h05'43
10 222 MIRANDE-DELLI ZOTTI FRA PROTO 2/10 1.1/6 07h57'39 02h17'01
11 295 POSTEAU-ANTONIOLLI FRA NISSAN 2/11 1.1/7 08h06'36 02h25'58
12 223 VANDROMME-FAGOT FRA NISSAN 2/121.1/8 08h13'36 02h32'58
13 281 LELOUP-DRISS TUN TOYOTA 2/13 1.2/3 08h15'39 02h35'01
14 215 CHIARAVITA-CATTARELL IFRA MITSUBISHI 2/14 1.2/4 08h17'31 02h36'53
15 211 LARTIGUE-MORIN AND NISSAN 2/151.2/5 08h17'55 02h37'17
16 238 MENGUY-BURDIN FRA MERCEDES 1/11/1 08h22'50 02h42'12
17 257 DHONTKAKET BEL MITSUBISHI 2/161.1/9 08h27'26 02h46'48
18 214 GACHE-GAUTHIER RTC FORD 2/17 2.1/2 08h29'58 02h49'20
19 306 TERRIER-DUBOIS SUI BOWLER 2/181.1/10 08h49'12 03h08'34
20 224 BARBIER-BARBIER FRA NISSAN 2/19 1.2/6 08h49'30 03h08'52
21 237 SHMAKOV-MISHIN RUS MERCEDES 1/2 1/2 08h51'31 03h10'53
22 300 REBOUX-VAN LANDER FRA TOYOTA 2/20 1.2/7 08h52'33 03h11'55
23 234 BLAZQUEZ-MAIMON ESP NISSAN 2/21 1.1/11 08h53'11 03h12'33
27 232 MICHELARD-COIRIER TUN NISSAN 2/24 1.1/13 08h58'11 03h17'33
32 276 CONREAU-VINEL FRA NISSAN 2/27 1.1/14 09h26'16 03h45'38
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