SO CLOSE AND YET STILL SO FAR......
author: Leon Botha
|
|
Can you tell the story better than this picture?
|
Well I suppose you can say there is good news and there is bad news --- but lets do like we in Sa traditionally do – lets start with the bad news.
For those who had the time and inclination to read through my preview this morning will remember that I requested Giniel to take at least 1.944 seconds per kilometre from that silly Frenchman leading the pack – Miester Luc – or something to that effect.
At the end of my article that I wrote with so much care – we all agreed that it would then not have been a problem as Giniel only had to take 1.95 seconds over the last km on Sunday to pull off a mayor upset.
|
|
I am telling you this thing had a nose on this morning!! Henri Pescarolo and Didier Le Gal looking for the pieces of the SMG Buggy
|
The bad news however is that our own Miester Giniel sat and rolled snotbolletjies instead of putting foot today, this needless to say caused the averages per km – not unlike the official cricket team’s runs per over needed – go up to a dramatic 4.677s per km for the rest of the 285kms to Dakar.
So now he has to take 4.68 seconds over the last km of the event to take to blerrie rally!
Jeeeeeeeesss man, can you imagine he wins the DAKAR!
My goodness it was not even close to a real dream in my mind when they started off. I though a good third may be on the charts, but a possible win against the all conquering Mitsubishi team? Not likely!
The good news however is that Carlos Sainz today attacked like only he could, and posted second fastest stage time, which means that tomorrow he will start directly behind Alphand, and believe me, his instructions will be clear, “chase Alphand as hard as you can, overtake him and make our problem his problem.”
|
|
Giniel coming out of the Desert car Wash ....
|
The ideal will of course be if Giniel manages to overtake before Sainz does, and then if the latter follows suite the game will be on. We do however not know yet how fast Peterhansel was in SS13 – and his time through today's stage may get him close enough to become a nuisance factor to Giniel!
No matter what happens, Giniel has done us all proud so far and I can’t wait to see him in person to tell him exactly that!
What a boytjie!
Stage 14 tomorrow on the 14th will stretch from Tambacounda to Dakar with a 107 km liaison section leading to the penultimate Special of 254 km and then on to Dakar on a liaison section of 273 km.
After this the fat lady will gurgle with 10 year KWV to make sure that she can sing loud and clear on Sunday – and we will either hear something about an "all conquering South African in a Touareg" or we will find it difficult to listen to the "11th Mitsubishi song" sounding over the desert!
Navigation will be the key factor to these stages which are already so close to civilisation. Although SS14 is the same special that was used in the past, there are countless paths, sandy tracks and changes of direction that may lead to a number of wrong slots easily causing a team to lose the advantage they have so carefully built up, so close to the finish.
|
|
LE BEEEEEGGGGGG PROBLEM!
|
The liaison to the arrival in Dakar will be a reward for the senses, passing through the beautiful and cheerful Senegalese villages.
So, once again – here we go. Now it is serious business to wish, pray, and do whatever is needed to get the first South African to win this awesome event!
POSITIONS IN SS13
|
Pos
|
No
|
Driver
|
Navigator
|
Vehicle
|
Total Time
|
Leader def.
|
Prev. Def.
|
|
1
|
302
|
Alphand
|
Picard
|
Mitsubishi P
|
4h30'15"0
|
77.3 km/h
|
0
|
|
2
|
307
|
Sainz
|
Schulz
|
Volkswagen T
|
4h31'05"0
|
+ 00'50"0
|
+ 00'50"0
|
|
3
|
305
|
De Villiers
|
Thorner
|
Volkswagen T
|
4h31'57"0
|
+ 01'42"0
|
+ 00'52"0
|
|
4
|
301
|
Saby
|
Perin
|
Volkswagen
|
4h40'34"0
|
+ 10'19"0
|
+ 08'37"0
|
|
5
|
304
|
Roma
|
Magne
|
Mitsubishi P
|
4h42'00"0
|
+ 11'45"0
|
+ 01'26"0
|
|
6
|
315
|
Magnaldi
|
Debron
|
Schlesser-Fo
|
4h44'43"0
|
+ 14'28"0
|
+ 02'43"0
|
|
7
|
300
|
Peterhansel
|
Cottret
|
Mitsubishi
|
4h47'05"0
|
+ 16'50"0
|
+ 02'22"0
|
|
8
|
311
|
Sousa
|
Lurquin
|
Nissan Navar
|
4h49'10"0
|
+ 18'55"0
|
+ 02'05"0
|
|
9
|
346
|
Vigouroux
|
Winocq
|
Chevrolet Si
|
4h58'34"0
|
+ 28'19"0
|
+ 09'24"0
|
|
10
|
314
|
Schlesser
|
Borsotto
|
Schlesser-Fo
|
4h59'52"0
|
+ 29'37"0
|
+ 01'18"0
|
|
11
|
312
|
Monterde
|
Siviero
|
Bmw X5
|
5h02'13"0
|
+ 31'58"0
|
+ 02'21"0
|
|
12
|
309
|
Miller
|
Von Zitzewi.
|
Volkswagen T
|
5h03'32"0
|
+ 33'17"0
|
+ 01'19"0
|
|
13
|
316
|
Servia
|
Alcaraz
|
Schlesser-Fo
|
5h04'45"0
|
+ 34'30"0
|
+ 01'13"0
|
|
14
|
322
|
Chicherit
|
Baumel
|
Bmw X3
|
5h05'10"0
|
+ 34'55"0
|
+ 00'25"0
|
|
15
|
313
|
Cox
|
Pitchford
|
Bmw X3
|
5h07'15"0
|
+ 37'00"0
|
+ 02'05"0
|
|
16
|
317
|
Gache
|
Garcin
|
Buggy Smg
|
5h13'48"0
|
+ 43'33"0
|
+ 06'33"0
|
|
17
|
334
|
Guinot
|
Kroiss
|
Volkswagen B
|
5h41'20"0
|
+ 1h11'05
|
+ 27'32"0
|
|
18
|
438
|
Tollefsen
|
Evans
|
Bowler Wildc
|
5h47'09"0
|
+ 1h16'54
|
+ 05'49"0
|
|
OVERALL AFTER SS13
|
|
No
|
Driver
|
Navigator
|
Vehicle
|
Total Time
|
Leader def.
|
Prev. Comp.
|
|
1
|
302
|
Alphand
|
Picard
|
Mitsubishi P
|
50h56'07"
|
87.7 km/h
|
0
|
|
2
|
305
|
De Villiers
|
Thorner
|
Volkswagen T
|
51h18'20"
|
+ 22'13"0
|
+ 22'13"0
|
|
3
|
304
|
Roma
|
Magne
|
Mitsubishi P
|
52h28'38"
|
+ 1h32'31
|
+ 1h10'18
|
|
4
|
300
|
Peterhansel
|
Cottret
|
Mitsubishi
|
54h04'02"
|
+ 3h07'55
|
+ 1h35'24
|
|
5
|
309
|
Miller
|
Von Zitzewi.
|
Volkswagen T
|
54h29'17"
|
+ 3h33'10
|
+ 25'15"0
|
|
6
|
314
|
Schlesser
|
Borsotto
|
Schlesser-Fo
|
55h10'37"
|
+ 4h14'30
|
+ 41'20"0
|
|
7
|
311
|
Sousa
|
Lurquin
|
Nissan Navar
|
56h20'08"
|
+ 5h24'01
|
+ 1h09'31
|
|
8
|
301
|
Saby
|
Perin
|
Volkswagen
|
59h05'54"
|
+ 8h09'47
|
+ 2h45'46
|
|
9
|
315
|
Magnaldi
|
Debron
|
Schlesser-Fo
|
59h23'00"
|
+ 8h26'53
|
+ 17'06"0
|
|
10
|
322
|
Chicherit
|
Baumel
|
Bmw X3
|
59h36'12"
|
+ 8h40'05
|
+ 13'12"0
|
|
11
|
307
|
Sainz
|
Schulz
|
Volkswagen T
|
60h44'00"
|
+ 9h47'53
|
+ 1h07'48
|
|
12
|
317
|
Gache
|
Garcin
|
Buggy Smg
|
64h38'43"
|
+ 13h42'3
|
+ 3h54'43
|
|
13
|
334
|
Guinot
|
Kroiss
|
Volkswagen B
|
65h49'37"
|
+ 14h53'3
|
+ 1h10'54
|
|
14
|
316
|
Servia
|
Alcaraz
|
Schlesser-Fo
|
67h08'57"
|
+ 16h12'5
|
+ 1h19'20
|
|
15
|
313
|
Cox
|
Pitchford
|
Bmw X3
|
70h02'52"
|
+ 19h06'4
|
+ 2h53'55
|
|
16
|
438
|
Tollefsen
|
Evans
|
Bowler Wildc
|
70h23'46"
|
+ 19h27'3
|
+ 20'54"0
|
|
17
|
312
|
Monterde
|
Siviero
|
Bmw X5
|
71h33'31"
|
+ 20h37'2
|
+ 1h09'45
|
|
18
|
346
|
Vigouroux
|
Winocq
|
Chevrolet Si
|
102h47'59
|
+ 51h51'5
|
+ 31h14'2
|
|
|
|
