NUMBER 50 FOR VATANEN
author: Leon Botha
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Makes you think of Bronkhorstbay on a Saturday morning speeding to the best fishing spot.
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Stacking the 50th stage win in DAKAR rallying, Vatanen the man who says he wants to make the tally 100, came in for an impressive win for the Nissan Hardbody (of course Proudly South African – what else) Team in the 4th stage of the 2004 event yesterday.
This stage lifted out one aspect and that is that the Nissans can run with and even beat the Mitsu’s on top speed. There were many straights in this stage and some of the vehicles reached speeds in excess of 200 km/h.
Now we have to see what happens when they hit the loose sand and dunes.
The Finn managed a time of 40min40 beating Stephane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi n°203) by 10sec. Third was Miki Biasion (Mitsubishi n°206) at 33sec while Colin McRae (Nissan n°202), finishing fourth is slowly but surely proving that he can do extremely well in an event he is discovering. With Nissan cars in first, fourth and sixth spot (De Villiers n°208) and three Mitsubishis between them (fifth spot for Masuoka n°201), the battle between the Japanese brands has really started and should be splendid all along this 26th edition. Meanwhile BMW and Gregoire De Mevius (n°212) clinched 7th place while his colleague Luc Alphand (n°207) was 9th.
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Mitsubishi release
Peterhansel - Mitsubishi - current leader.
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Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports driver Stéphane Peterhansel has extended his lead in the 2004 Telefónica Dakar Rally and the Pajero / Montero Evolution driver now holds a one minute, seven second advantage over team-mate and former World Rally Champion "Miki" Biasion. Japan’s defending Dakar champion Hiroshi Masuoka lays fifth with the team’s fourth official car, driven by Andrea Mayer, in 12th overall.
The 4th leg was the first on African soil and kicked off with a long 233 kilometer liaison to the start of the 75 kilometer Tangier-Er Rachidia stage, the third competitive section of the event. The fast, twisty and sandy stage represented a totally different landscape and took the crews partly through the Mamoora Forest, near the town of Rabat.
Ari will run ahead of the pack today (5th) followed by the two Mitsubishis of Stéphane Peterhansel and Miki Biassion, which in a way will put pressure on the Fin as he will be opening the road for the cars. Not really knowing what the conditions will be like, me thinks that this may be the first real navigational test as this stage brings together nearly all of the difficulties which the competitors will face through the event. The start of the special is very arid and the tracks are sinuous and rocky. Then, gradually, Africa unveils its charms, as the route reaches the first wadis, canyons and kilometres of sandy tracks that lead the competitors to the highlight of this first part of the rally, the Erg Chebbib, an essential element of the race's passage through the Moroccan desert before a very fast end of stage.
But lets move back to what happened to some of the top crews. Colin McRae set a very good time, just 41 seconds behind Vatanen. For his first special stage on African soil, the driver from Scotland was able to get the balance right : " I was not too lost on today's special stage, which reminded me of some sections of the WRC. I am very satisfied with our time. The car behaved very well, even if we still have a few small things to improve. It's really great for Ari …"
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Nissan Motorsport Release
Giniel de Villiers Proudly SA Nissan Hardbody
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Giniel de Villiers, 49 seconds behind his Finnish team-mate, claimed the 6th fastest time. He has gained two places in the overall classification, and is now in the top ten, in 9th place : "We drove well today. I've gained two places in the classification, but the gaps are very small. It is a bit too soon to get a good idea of what is likely to happen. I am very happy for Ari. He really wanted this 50th win, and he has got it. I hope that one day I will be able to do likewise … I opened my score in Castellon yesterday. I hope it is just the first of a long series…"
Yoshio Ikemachi, at the wheel of his Nissan Patrol in the Production category, finished around 15 minutes behind the leader. The young Japanese driver is tackling his first Dakar in a very careful manner, but he is extremely determined to reach the finish line.
Nissan has placed its three Pickup vehicles in the top nine in the overall classification. A very fine start for the event, as it reaches African soil.
Defending Dakar Rally victor Hiroshi Masuoka and French co-driver Gilles Picard set fifth fastest time in the section, just 49 seconds behind Vatanen. The Japanese driver has climbed from sixth to fifth today, just over a minute and a half behind overnight leader Peterhansel.
Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports fourth official car, driven by Andrea Mayer, was 12th on the stage. She and former Dakar Rally winning co-driver Andreas Schulz maintain 12th position in their Pajero / Montero.
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The VW Touareg of Juta Kleinschmidt in SS4
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The female Volkswagen works drivers Jutta Kleinschmidt/Fabrizia Pons succeeded in taking another step towards the front on the first African stage of the Dakar Rally. The German-Italian women’s duo driving the Volkswagen Race-Touareg improved a further eleven positions to take 16th place in the overall classification. On the 752 kilometre journey from Tanger to Er Rachidia in Morocco, which included a 75 kilometre long special stage run against the clock, Jutta Kleinschmidt emerged 14th in the day’s competition. One position and a mere 31 seconds behind the 2001 Dakar winner at the finish line were her team colleagues Bruno Saby/Matthew Stevenson in another Race-Touareg. They moved up from 16th to 13th position on the overall leader board. The stage, which included a long asphalt section, was unusually fast with an average speed of 110.65 km/h.
Jutta Kleinschmidt (#204)
“That was a flawless start for us in Africa. The Race-Touareg ran faultlessly during the first desert stage. Working together with Fabrizia is also excellent. Still, it is much too early to take any risks as our goal is to see the chequered flag in Dakar.”
Bruno Saby (#224)
“We set a very similar pace on the stage as Jutta and Fabrizia did. I’m getting more and more used to the Race-Touareg, which is also very good to drive over this type of terrain.”
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VW'ing through the water!
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Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah was the first of the seven Mitsubishi Ralliart customer drivers through the section, the Qatari and Belgian co-driver Marc Bartholome 13th fastest to hold 11th overall in their Pajero / Montero.
Mitsubishi Ralliart team mates Dominique Housieaux, Lukasz Komornicki, Klever Kolberg and José-Luis Monterde are classified 20th, 22nd, 24th and 27th respectively, all driving similar Pajero / Monteros. Thailand’s Pornsawan Siriwattanakun claimed 35th in the section in his L200 Strada and holds 32nd overall. Team Mitsubishi Ralliart China’s Luo Ding began the day in 55th position but has climbed to 52nd overnight.
Nicolas Misslin was 17th on the section in his privately-run Pajero / Montero and leads the manufacturer’s privateer assault in a fine equal 14th position, alongside former Mitsubishi driver Kenjiro Shinozuka.
In the truck race, Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz n°410) took advantage of the final kilometres to grab the best time of the day, just ahead of Gerardus De Rooy (DAF n°417) by 17sec. The young Dutchman indeed had set the fastest time at CP 1 (km 47). Third was last year's winner Vladimir Tchaguine (Kamaz n°414) at 1min37. It was on the other hand a bad day for veteran Johannes De Rooy (DAF n°411) who finished the stage, over 43sec adrift because of a puncture. In the overall his son Gerardus keeps his lead ahead of Kabirov by 13sec.
Good news to the South African readers is that Hannes Grobler, posted 14th quickest time and moved into 16th position overall driving the Renault with it all South Africa crew. We must however not get our hopes up too much as the winning Kamaz of Firdaus Kabirov beat the Renault of Grobler by a massive 13m16 seconds over the 75km stage. The winning truck would have finished in the top 30 of the car section in that stage yesterday. Now if that is not meant for fast deliveries, then I do not know.
Today the crews leave Er Rachidia for a short liaison section that takes them to the start of the first of the long African stages. The 337 kilometer south-westerly run from Er Rachidia to Ouarzazate, ’the Gateway to the South’, combines nearly all the challenges of the Dakar Rally in just one stage; fast, flowing and rocky tracks take the contenders to the Erg Chebbib, the first of the real dunes, before crews power over fast and sandy tracks to the end of the section. A 182 kilometer liaison then takes the crews to the overnight bivouac in Ouarzazate.
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