The Real Race is on…
author: Leon Botha
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Leon Botha
Objective - Sharm El Sheikh !
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During the two nights and one day journey that took the Dakar caravan to North Africa, many competitors had the fantastic European atmosphere in Marseille, Narbonne and Castellon in mind, but the difficult stages to come would have been on top of the thinking list.
The race is on…
"This rally is an African rally not a European rally. From now we start the Dakar!". The words of Japan's Kenjiro Shinozuka (Nissan - n.201) say it all. Only 51kms of special have been covered out of 8602 of the entire rally. The gaps between the main contenders in the overall standings are now counted in seconds. In a few days, we'll be talking about minutes and possibly more.
On two wheels, Sainct's lead on Alfie Cox (KTM - n.2) is of 10 tiny seconds. It is Alfie's birthday toaday and he will certainly be very happy with a stage win as present!
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Leon Botha
Happy Birthday Alfie!
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On the short very technical specials of France and Spain, last year's winner Fabrizio Meoni (KTM - n.1) lost a total of 1min48s. Time that the Italian could well have soon in his favour thanks to the power of his twin-cylinder bike.
In the car category, the battle between Mitsubishi and Nissan is as mouthwatering as expected. So far Peterhansel (Mitsubishi - n.206) and Masuoka (Mitsubishi n.200) have the edge on the Nissan boys although newcomer Giniel De Villiers is only 38sec adrift in third spot.
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Leon Botha
Masuaoka - took it easy rather than make a mistake.
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Giniel said "The car is 100% fine, in very good condition. The race only starts in Africa and we'll take it stage by stage. Objective: Sharm El Sheikh."
And while the South African is looking forward to a first experience in the desert, others will unfortunately not see Egypt …or even Africa.
On stage 2 between Narbonne and Castellon, the youngest pilot of the field, 20 year old Nicolas Misslin (Mitsubishi - n.233) crashed out of the rally. Father Christian (Mitsubishi - n.288) then decided to follow his son back home to Marseille.
The same kind of drama could have happened to Syndiely Wade (Nissan - n.277), daughter of Senegal's president, who after flipping over in the Castellon special, found herself back on four wheels and was able to finish the stage and board the boat to Tunis.
All 51 trucks however will make it to Africa where the battle for leadership promises to be oustanding. The De Rooy pair leading the standings although son Gerardus (DAF - n.414) insists his only goal if to get to Sahrm El Sheikh "first or last", he doesn't care. Johannes' (DAF - n.409) will find harsh opposition in Africa against the Tatra of Loprais (n.408) and the Kamaz of Tchaguine (n.407).
While the competitors prepare their road books for the upcoming stages, the journalists and a part of the organisation await in Tunis where the Ministry of tourism has prepared a fabulous welcome with visits of the country's capital and fine typical meals for the followers. It's good to be in Africa and now let the show begin.
And the show will be launched by Cyril Despres, first to take off after victory in Castellon.
And a bit of Dutch just to keep you in practice:
Het Feryn Dakar team met Joris Mattijs en Pascal Feryn gaan zonder problemen de boot op. De Toyota nummer 313 staat in de T1 klasse als 4de.
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Leon Botha
and bringing you your Dutch lesson for the day!
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In het algemeen klassement klimmen zij van de 91ste naar de 83ste plaats. Zowel Joris als Pascal zijn uiterst tevreden. Tijdens het wachten aan de boot lieten ze zojuist weten dat zij resoluut voor een podiumplaats gaan in de T1 klasse.
Bij de vorige editie had Joris Mattijs een 3de plaats in de T1 toen hij 1 dag voor de finish met motorpech aan de kant moest.
Ik heb gezegt!
I have to mention that the Feryn Dakar Team has their PR work right. They quickly picked up the influence of the RallyStar site and placed us on their list. We wish them good luck.
See you all later today after stage Four!
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