UAE Desert Challenge -
 2003 FIA World Cup
for Cross Country Rallies
Round 8

 

Sunday, 19 October 2003
to
Friday, 24 October 2003

  

 

Race Vehicule :

Jean-louis Schlesser - Jean Marie Lurquin

Schlesser-Ford Raid X 202 -  N°  202
 

Assistance

Françis Delimbeu - Arnaud Mounier - Charles Lopez

Race Infos - Results
UAE DESERT CHALLENGE (2003) - Programme

Prologue Monday 20 october 2003 - Stage 1

For the first time, the Prologue stage was hosted on Palm Island - Jumeira, a stunningly opulent residential and resort venue being built off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. To mark the start, the crews were flagged away by Mohammed Ben Sulayem, Chairman of the Organizing Committee, and the Middle East’s flagship event was broadcast live, for two hours, on LBC, underlining the value of this international event. The twisty, purpose-built stage was run in intensive humidity and searing heat, another feature that characterizes this event and adds to the overall challenge of desert competition.
 

 

 

 Tuesday 21 october 2003

LEG 1 – Abu Dahabi - Monasir : 500,8 km (318,95 km competitive)

After today’s opening crowd-pleaser, the official start of the 13th UAE Marlboro Desert Challenge takes place at the Marina Mall in Abu Dhabi tomorrow morning. Competitors from no less than 28 countries will begin five days of action across a 1,932 kilometer route, 1,460 of which is competitive. Tuesday’s opening 318.95 competitive kilometer section takes the crews down the Hameem Road and heads towards a service point at the Arjan Mast, before the overnight halt in Mizai’ra.
Mitsubishi's Hiroshi Masuoka was the first notable retirement from the rally, when he rolled his Pajero Evolution 22 kms into the stage. Neither crew member was injured, but the car was too badly damaged for this year's Dakar Rally winner to continue. It will now be repaired in preparation for next year's African classic.

Frenchman Luc Alphand, the winner of Baja races in Germany and Spain this year, lost over 70 minutes with a mechanical problem in his BMW X5, 80 kms into the stage. He restarted and stopped further into the stage.

The UAE's Khalifa Al-Motaiwi was also in trouble. "We came over a sand dune and saw a bike stopped," said Al-Motaiwi. "I braked hard to miss the bike and we stalled the engine. It took 30 minutes to get going again."
 

Positions after Leg 1 - Cars (unofficial)
1. Giniel de Villiers (ZA)/Francois Jordaan (ZA) Nissan Pick-Up                     2h 48m 34s
2. Gregoire de Mevius (B)/Arnaud Debron (F) BMW                                       2h 49m 05s
3. Miki Biasion (I)/Tiziano Siviero (I) Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution                   2h50m 34s
4. Stephane Peterhansel (F)/Jean-Paul Cottret (F) Mitsubishi PajeroEvolution   2h 51m 51s
5. Carlos Sousa (P)/Henri Magne (AND) Mitsubishi L200 Strakar                    2h 54m47s
6. Ari Vatanen (SF)/Juha Repo (SF) Nissan Pick-Up                                        2h 54m 48s
7. Khalifa Al-Motaiwi (UAE)/Philip Tiefenbach (D) BMW X5                           3h 07m21s
8. Jean-Louis Schlesser (F)/Jean-Marie Lurquin (F) Schlesser-Ford       3h07m 28s
9. Yayha Alhili (UAE)/Khaled Al-Kendi (UAE) Chevrolet Tahoe                         3h 14m28s
10. Andrea Mayer (D)/Andreas Schulz (D) Mitsubishi Pajero                           3h 15m38s


Tomorrow's (Wednesday) second desert section will start at 06.30 on the asphalt road to the Mureeb Hill Climb in Liwa. Passage controls have been set up on the Arada Border road and where the route crosses the Hameem to Mizaira track at Tharwaniyah. Early morning fog has been prevalent in recent years and the organisers have a contingency plan in place to overcome such an eventuality.

The service point will be situated at an underpass on the Madinah Zayed road before teams reach the finish of the 388 kms competitive section on the Arada gatch track. A road liaison takes teams into the second night at the Mizai'ra base camp.

Wednesday, 22 October 2003

LEG 2 – Rub Al Khali - Liwa : 467 km (388,5 km competitive)
 

Positions on Leg 2 - Cars (unofficial top 5)
1. Stephane Peterhansel (F)/Jean-Paul Cottret (F) Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution 4h 09m 21s
2. Jean-Louis Schlesser (F)/Jean-Marie Lurquin (F) Schlesser-Ford 4h 22m 07s
3. Carlos Sousa (P)/Henri Magne (AND) Mitsubishi L200 Strakar 4h 23m 28s
4. Gregoire de Mevius (B)/Alain Guehennec (F) BMW X5 4h 28m 21s
5. Miki Biasion (I)/Tiziano Siviero (I) Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution 4h29m 36s

Positions after Leg 2 - Cars (unofficial)

1. Stephane Peterhansel (F)/Jean-Paul Cottret (F) Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution 7h 01m 12s
2. Gregoire de Mevius (B)/Alain Guehennec (F) BMW X5  7h 17m 26s
3. Carlos Sousa (P)/Henri Magne (AND) Mitsubishi L200 Strakar 7h 18m 15s
4. Miki Biasion (I)/Tiziano Siviero (I) Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution 7h 20m 10s
5. Jean-Louis Schlesser (F)/Jean-Marie Lurquin (F) Schlesser-Ford 7h 29m 35s
6. Andrea Mayer (D)/Andreas Schulz (D) Mitsubishi Pajero 7h 56m 27s
7. Yayha Alhili (UAE)/Khaled Al-Kendi (UAE) Chevrolet Tahoe 8h 25m 06s
8. Dominique Housieux (/Loic Fagot (F) Mitsubishi Pajero 8h 29m 08s


 
Thursday, 23 October 2003

LEG 3 – Rub Al Khali - Liwa : 435,2 km (359,6 km competitive)

Scratch :
Positions on Leg 3 - Cars (unofficial - top 5)
1. Jean-Louis Schlesser (F)/Jean-Marie Lurquin (F) Schlesser-Ford   4h 20m 55s
2. Stephane Peterhansel (F)/Jean-Paul Cottret (F) Mitsubishi Pajero  Evolution 4h 36m 26s
3. Obaid Bin Hathboor (UAE)/ Abdulhalim Bin Zayed (UAE) Chevrolet Tahoe     5h 03m 18s
4. Luc Alphand (F)/Arnaud Debron (F) BMW X5 5h 12m 17s
5. Ahmed Bin Soughat (UAE)/Jassim Al-Kendi (UAE) Chevrolet Tahoe           5h14m 58s

General  Classification:

Positions after Leg 3 - Cars (unofficial)
1. Stephane Peterhansel (F)/Jean-Paul Cottret (F) Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution   11h 37m 38s
2. Jean-Louis Schlesser (F)/Jean-Marie Lurquin (F) Schlesser-Ford             11h 50m 30s
3. Carlos Sousa (P)/Henri Magne (AND) Mitsubishi L200 Strakar               12h 38m 29s
4. Gregoire de Mevius (B)/Alain Guehennec (F) BMW X5  12h 47m 28s
5. Andrea Mayer (D)/Andreas Schulz (D) Mitsubishi Pajero 13h 26m 56s
6. Jose-Luis Monterde (E)/Rafael Tornabell (E) Mitsubishi Pajero 14h 19m 25s
7. Amadeus Matzker (D)/ Dirk Von Zitzewitz (D) Land Rover 14h 31m 22s
8. Saeed Hamli (UAE)/Ahmad Malik (UAE) Nissan Patrol 14h 40m 23s
9. Obaid Bin Hathboor (UAE)/ Abdulhalim Bin Zayed (UAE) Chevrolet Tahoe 5h 03m 18s
10. Ahmed Bin Soughat (UAE)/Jassim Al-Kendi (UAE) Chevrolet Tahoe 5h12m 17s

 

 

 
Friday, 24 October 2003

LEG 4 – Liwa : 529,5 km (393.25 km competitive)

 

 

 

 

 
   
 

General Classification :