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From june 26th to july 2nd
 
 Entry-List
Email :
infos@renemetge-concept.com
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The Staff |
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Jean-louis Schlesser - François Borsotto |
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Schlesser-Ford Ranger
X 822 - N° 202 |
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Assistance 1 |
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Xavier Turlais
- Jérôme Broeks |
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Mercedes
K 437 - N° 602 |
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Assistance 2 |
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Arnaud Mounier - Marc Dell'agnello |
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For Ranger Pickup
4x4 - N° 502 |
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The media coverage of the Rallye d’Orient :
More than 17 hours of TV Broadcasting in 2004 :
EUROSPORT INTERNATIONAL
(54 countries - 98 millions of home) : a daily 13 mn during the rally at about 10:30 am and summary of 26 mn diffused twice.
Total : 143 mn
MOTORS TV (Europe) : a daily 7 mn during the rally. Summarized by 52 mn diffused twice. Total :153 mn
CNN (Turkey) : a daily 3 mn during the rally and summary of 26 mn diffused twice. Tota l: 73 mn
ATV (Turkey) : a daily 4 mn during the rally. Total : 28 mn
MTV (Turkey) : a daily 3 mn during the rally. Total : 21 mn
TRT (Turkey) : a daily 3 mn during the rally. Total : 21 mn
NTV (Turkey) : a daily 4 mn during the rally and a live program of one hour each for the start and the finish. Total: 148 mn
TF1 (France) : Summarized by 3 mn in the issue “Automoto” on Sunday at 10:30 am.
FR3 (France) : a daily 1 mn 30s during the rally in “Tout le Sport” magazine. Total: 10 mn
L’EQUIPE TV (France) : a daily 1 mn multi-difused during the rally. Total : 50 mn
RTBF (Belgique) : Summarized by 7 mn in motorsort magazine.
ZDF (Germany) : a daily 6 mn during the rally. Total: 42 mn
RTL Télévision (Hongry) : a daily 7 mn during the rally. Total : 49 mn
Dubai TV : a daily 5 mn during the rally. Total: 35 mn
TV Polska : Daily summary of 3 mn a day. Total 21 mn
TV St. Petersburg (Russia) : Summarized by 12 mn in motorsort magazine.
Broadcasting of a report on the planes of Turkish Airlines.
A summary of 2 mn 30s (free access) is also passed on in the UER and resumed by the majority of 145 countries which it represents all over the world.
Total : more than 17 hours of broadcasting.
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20/05/05 • The reconnaissances of the route are finished.
In spite of the difficult weather conditions met in Turkey (10 cm of snow in Erzorum on May 10th !), Rene Metge could complete his reconnaissances with only a few days of delay. The course is announced of any beauty as well on the sporting level as for the crossed landscapes.
Once again, it will be necessary to associate solids talents of driver and navigation. And then to finish, great innovation of the Rallye d’Orient 2005, a last stage traced in the Iranian salt desert Dasht-e Kevir with some beautiful bars of dunes.
During his recognitions, Rene could measure the formidable passion caused by the Rally in Iran. No doubt, this country holds an exceptional reception for us!!!
 
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The Route stages after stages !
[vérif] - [Etape 1]
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[Etape2] - [Etape3] -
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[Etape6] -
[Etape7]
Race Route
Total distance of around 3600Km of which 2000Km of selective stages 7 days of race Assistance Route
Average:
4 days of 450Km
3 days of 250km
The definitive route and total mileage of the stages will be revealed during the press conference which will precede the rally. |
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 Administratives and Technical checks in Ankara Hôtel Buyuk Anadolu |
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June 25th 2005
Hôtel Buyuk Anadolu
ANKARA
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Etape
1 ANKARA/ANKARA |
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The race : The first day of the Rallye d’Orient got underway with a victory in the motorcycle class for Cyril Despres (Gauloises KTM). Over the 141 km of twisty gravel tracks through the Turkish mountains the Frenchman won by a comfortable 6’17 ahead of the Chilean De Gavardo, with the Australian Palmer third at 10’14. Drafted into the team as a possible water
carrier for Despres on the next Dakar, Michel Gau finished 11th (at 19’49), while team mate David Casteu was 13th (at 23’16) after running into mechanical problems early in the stage.
In the cars victory went to VW’s new recruit De Villiers, with the South African finishing just 1’30 ahead of team mate and current world cup leader Bruno Saby. Serge Jordan was 3rd (at 2’26) with Shmakov 4th (at 3’21) and Jean Louis Schlesser (Gauloises Schlesser Buggy) 5th (at 3’31). Rousselot (6th at 6’11) won the T2 production class ahead of Pascal Thomasse (Gauloises Mercedes) (9th at 9’28).
Cyril Despres (Gauloises KTM) 1st (in 1.33’02)
“It was a magnificent special – it reminds us why we love to ride bikes. The scenery was fantastic and the tracks great fun to ride – you just slid from one corner to the next. There was quite a lot of navigation but the road book was really well done and all the changes of direction came exactly as shown. You could tell that the organiser, Renee Metge, had gone to a lot of trouble to make sure we enjoyed ourselves. On this rallye I am riding a prototype with a new chassis, better ergonomics and a slightly smaller engine and it worked really well. We need to set the
front fork up a little better, and adjust the carb for the altitude, but apart from that it was spot on. An unforgettable day’s riding!”
Michel Gau (Gauloises KTM) 11th (at 19’49)
“This is only my second ever rallye, and the first one was a long time ago, so it was a struggle to ride and navigate at the same time. And the task wasn’t helped by my GPS malfunctioning and forcing me to rely just on my road book and trip. In addition this is the first time I have ever raced a 660 KTM rallye bike! In all I must have got lost for 12 kms and it is obviously going to take me some time to get up to speed. Having said all that it was a beautiful special and I really enjoyed myself.”
David Casteu (Gauloises KTM) 13th (at 23’16)
“Just 7 kms into the special the oil warning light came on and so I stopped to try and find the problem. Eventually I tracked it down to a loose oil hose clamp, removed the bash plate, tightened it up and then poured the oil that had collected into the bottom of the bash plate back into the engine! Maybe 15 riders came past me while I was fixing the problem and so I ate a lot of dust trying to catch them back. Not a great way to start the rallye!”
Jean-Louis Schlesser (Gauloises Schlesser Buggy) 5th (at 3’31)
“It was definitely not a special for us – much too twisty and stop / start, but I have to admit it was fantastic driving – we were sliding all over the place and so hard on the brakes that towards they end they started to fade. Although are place isn’t great I am actually pleased not to have finished further behind the 4x4s on this type of going.”
Pascal Thomasse (Gauloises Mercedes) 9th (at 9’28)
“We struggled to find our rythme at the beginning but after about 60 kms we settled down and drove at a good pace. Overall I am fairly happy with our result.”
Stage Results:
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Etape
2 ANKARA/URGUP |
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The race : In the bikes victory on the second special went to the Chilean De Gavardo, ahead of David Casteu (Gauloises KTM) at 1’14, with Cyril Despres (Gauloises KTM) third (at 1’41). Michel Gau (Gauloises KTM) continued his apprenticeship to finish 6th (at 10’50). Overall Despres maintains his lead with De Gavardo second (at 4’36), the Australian Lee Palmer third (at 12’07), with
Casteu moving up to seventh (at 27’49) and Gau 8th (at 28’58).
In the cars it was Jean Louis Schlesser (Gauloises Schlesser) who won the day ahead of Bruno Saby (at 5’03) and De Villiers (at 7’34). Overall Schlesser takes the lead 3’02 ahead of Saby with De Villiers third (at 4’03).
In the T2 production class Rousselot was fastest, ahead of Sukhovenko and Chabot. Overall Rousselot leads with Sukhovenko second and Chabot third. Pascal Thomasse (Gauloises Mercedes) is 5th overall after a difficult day with the navigation.
Cyril Despres (Gauloises KTM) 3rd (at 1’41) 1st overall
“It was a difficult day today. My road book reader broke and I had to wind it on by hand, which slowed me down a lot – especially as there were tracks going off in all directions. Then one time, while my hand was off the handlebar winding on the road book, I hit a rock and came off – fortunately without too much damage either to myself or the bike. We tried to fix the problem at assistance but in the end I had to carry it on as it was. I was hoping somebody would come along and take the lead but that never happened and ended up riding at the front the whole day.”
David Casteu (Gauloises KTM) 2nd (at 1’14) 7th overall (at 27’49)
“The navigation wasn’t easy – you had to concentrate the whole time - but I managed not to get too lost. At yesterday’s briefing the organiser Renee Metge told us that if we got lost we had to go back to where we knew we were right and start again. That is what I did and it worked out. Starting quite far back this morning I was worried about getting held up in other people’s dust but everybody was very fairplay and let me through. All in all a good day.”
Michel Gau (Gauloises KTM) 6th (at 10’50) 8th overall (at 28’58)
“I was riding about 1 minute behind David (Casteu) and then, 10 kms from the finish line, I made a mistake with the navigation and ended up losing quite a bit of time. Apart from that I had a much better day than yesterday. I am starting to feel more comfortable with the navigation and am getting used to my bike.”
Jean-Louis Schlesser (Gauloises Schlesser) 1st and 1st overall
“Not a bad day. Francois (Borsotto) navigated well and the car ran perfectly, with no repeat of the brake fade problem we had yesterday. We came up behind the two Volkswagens of Saby and De Villiers about 70 kms from the finish but couldn’t get past them in the dust.”
Pascal Thomasse (Gauloises Mercedes) 15th (at 43’37) 13th overall (at 49’34)
“Not a good day for us. We got lost twice – well once we were on the right piste but thought we were wrong and turned back!”
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Stage Results:
General Results:
 
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Etape
3 URGUP/SIVAS |
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The race : In the bikes Cyril Despres (Gauloises KTM) won the special ahead of team mate David Casteu (at 13’04) and Carlo De Gavardo (at 15’07) to increase his overall lead to 19’43 over the Chilean and 40’53 over the Frenchman. The third Gauloises KTM rider, Michel Gau finished fourth (at 15’44) to move up to 5th place overall (at 44’42).
In the cars, yesterday’s order was reversed with the Volkswagen’s of De Villier and Saby finishing ahead of Jean Louis Schlesser (Gauloises Schlesser), who nevertheless maintains his overall lead 0’46 ahead of De Villier and 1’23 in front of Saby.
In the T2 production class Rousselot again won the special ahead of Chabot and Pascal Thomasse (Gauloises Mercedes) to extend his class lead.
Cyril Despres (Gauloises KTM) 1st and 1st overall (by 19’43)
“I started third this morning and caught Carlo (De Gavardo) and David (Casteu) after 14 km in a series of fields where there was some tricky navigation. I managed to get past them there and then we rode together to refuelling. After refuelling the road book was relatively easy to follow and so I attacked and managed to break away. Another fantastic special from Rene Metge – he must spend a lot of time putting his road books together. At one point we climbed up to 2400 metres and the scenery was absolutely breathtaking!”
David Casteu (Gauloises KTM) 2nd (at 13’04) 3rd overall (at 40’53)
“I was riding with Carlo (De Gavardo) and at a dam we went too far to the right and got lost. We had to cut across using the GPS to get back on the piste and lost quite a bit of time. Despite that it was a great special. Rene (Metge) spoilt us once again, sending us up so high into the mountains that both our bikes and us were starting to run out of ‘puff’.”
Michel Gau (Gauloises KTM) 4th (at 15’44) 5th overall (at 44’42)
“Up until right at the end I was going really well and then I made a couple of navigation mistakes just before the finish. Still I am happy with my day. I rode alone the whole time, which made it difficult to maintain a good pace. Despite that my time isn’t too bad and I am starting to make friends with my road book and trip!”
Jean-Louis Schlesser (Gauloises Schlesser) 3rd (at 3’17) 1st overall (by 0’46)
“It was a very beautiful stage but every hard to open. Once again I take my hat off to Francois (Borsotto) for the great job he did navigating us through the maze of tracks. The two Volkswagens caught us at about km 150 and we came across the line together. I am pretty happy with our overall position. Hopefully the terrain will allow us to hold on to it tomorrow!”
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Stage Results:
General Results:
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Etape
4 SIVAS/ERZURUM |
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The race : In the bikes overall victory on the day’s two specials went David Casteu (Gauloises KTM) 0’46 ahead of Cyril Despres (Gauloises KTM), with Carlo De Gavardo third (at 2’44). The third member of the Gauloises KTM team, Michel Gau, was fourth (at 8’13). Overall however Despres holds on to a comfortable 21’41 lead over De Gavardo, with Casteu third (at 40’07) and Gau fourth (at
52’09).
In the cars it was Bruno Saby who won the fourth stage, 2’11 in front of De Villiers, with Jean Louis Schlesser (Gauloises Schlesser) third (at 12’54). In the process the leader of the world cup takes the overall lead from Schlesser (3rd at 11’31) with De Villiers now 2nd (at 1’34).
In the T2 production class Rousselot maintains his commanding lead while Pascal Thomas (Gauloises Mercedes) was forced to abandon on the first special of the day after going ‘end over end’.
David Casteu (Gauloises KTM) 1st & 3rd overall (at 40’07)
“We rode through some beautiful country today. The going was very fast and you had to be careful because there was some local traffic on the tracks. Fortunately everything went fine for me – I just had a little crash that just scuffed a hand guard.”
Cyril Despres (Gauloises KTM) 2nd (at 0’46) 1st overall
“This morning myself and David (Casteu) swapped places a couple of times. and then, while trying to wipe insects of my visor, I hit a rock and came off. I could have only been doing no more than 20 kph, but I feel heavily on my right hand side and hurt my arm, hip and shoulder. I also put a hole in my fuel tank which allowed 10 litres of petrol to pour over my foot. Fortunately I had enough fuel in my rear tanks to get out of the special and reach my assistance, where once again Roland, my mechanic, performed miracles, fixing my bike and allowing me to start the second
special on time. I felt a little bruised and battered for the second special and rode most of it sitting down. Hopefully it won’t hurt too much tomorrow.”
Michel Gau (Gauloises KTM) 4th (at 8’13) 4th overall (at 52’09)
“The going was very fast today – we spent a lot of time riding around the 150 kph mark and you had to look out for other traffic on the road. There wasn’t however too much navigation and apart from going off the piste on a fast bend I had a pretty incident free day.”
Jean Louis Schlesser (Gauloises Schlesser) 3rd (at 12’54) 3rd overall (at 11’31)
“Both specials were just corner after corner in the mountains and on that kind of going there was nothing we could do against the 4x4s. The problem is that tomorrow we do the same two specials in the opposite direction and so logically I will lose a similar amount of time. It is going to be tough to make up all that time over the last two stages…”
 
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Stage 1 Results:
Stage 2 Results:
General Results:
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Etape
5 ERZURUM/SIVAS |
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The race : In the bikes the Gauloises KTM riders scored a hat-trick today, with Cyril Despres winning the special 1’34 ahead of David Casteu and 2’48 in front of Michel Gau. Overall Despres still leads by 35’10 over De Gavardo, with Casteu closing in on the Chilean and now at 41’41. Michel Gau is fourth at 54’57.
In the cars the cancelled first special helped Jean-Louis Schlesser (Gauloises Schlesser) lose less time over the tight mountain pistes than he anticipated, the French constructor / driver finishing third at 4’37 behind Saby, with Saby’s team mate De Villiers second (at 0’14). Overall Saby maintains his slim lead over De Villiers (at 1’4 with Schlesser third (at 16’0.
Cyril Despres (Gauloises KTM) 1st and 1st overall
“We raced today’s special in the opposite direction to yesterday and it was interesting to see the line the cars took through the corners. It was also surprising how different the special was run the other way round. I looked for the place where I fell yesterday but didn’t spot it. Although I wasn’t sorry when they announced that the first special was cancelled, I didn’t suffer too much from yesterday’s injuries, and that is in big part thanks to my doctor Marc Saramito. Once again I rang him at his practice in the South of France and once again he dropped everything to
give me a ‘telephone diagnosis’, helping me establish what I’d damaged and how best to manage my injuries.”
David Casteu (Gauloises KTM) 2nd (at 1’34) 3rd overall (at 41’41)
“I opened the piste today and I have to tell you it wasn’t a very relaxing experience. Ever since I hit a 4x4 head on, while racing on the 2003 Dakar, I have had a phobia about meeting traffic on the piste, and here in Turkey there are quite a lot of tractors and local cars about. Apart from felling a little tense on the bike everything went smoothly – no crashes and no mechanical problems.”
Michel Gau (Gauloises KTM) 3rd (at 2’4 4th overall (at 54’57)
“A pretty good day for me. I didn’t make any mistakes, either with my riding or with the navigation, and I am definitely getting quicker. In general I don’t like to ride over my limits, but as I am feeling more and more confident I am taking better lines through the corners and so saving precious time. I am also getting better at reading a few boxes ahead on the road book and am therefore anticipating the hazards better.”
Jean-Louis Schlesser (Gauloises Schlesser) 3rd (at 4’37) 3rd overall (at 16’0
“There were a few tractors about on the special, and we lost a bit of time stuck behind one in a village, but I think that was the same for everybody. Obviously, with today’s going not at all suited to our 2-wheel drive buggy, it was a good thing for us that the first special was cancelled. On the second we tried as hard as we could to limit the damage, but with so many corners and so much braking it was inevitable that we lost time to the 4x4 Volkswagens.”
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Stage Results:
General Results:
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Etape
6 SIVAS/URGUP |
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The race : The penultimate stage of the Rallye d’Orient saw another hat-trick for the Gauloises KTM team, with victory going to David Casteu, ahead of Cyril Despres (at 2’52) and Michel Gau (at 10’31). With Carlo De Gavardo receiving a time penalty last night, and again running into problems today, the three Frenchman now also occupy the top three places overall, with Despres leading
Casteu by 38’49 and Gau by 1.02’38.
In the cars Jean-Louis Schlesser (Gauloises Schlesser) complimented the exploit of the Gauloises KTM team by winning the special 4’34 ahead of De Villiers and 5’30 in front of Saby – despite finishing the special with his right rear tyre completely destroyed. No change however overall, with Saby leading De Villier by 0’52 and Schlesser by 10’38.
David Casteu (Gauloises KTM) 1st and 2nd overall (at 38’49)
“I really enjoyed myself again today and think I have learnt a lot on this rallye. Myself and Cyril got lost in a village early on and Michel came past. Then the three of us had a fantastic ride through the mountains, with Michel opening, before he took a wrong turning at around km 100. We followed for about 300 metres before Cyril realised we were on the wrong cap and the two of us cut across to the pick up the right piste. After that I opened, with Cyril following about 1 km behind.”
Cyril Despres (Gauloises KTM) 2nd (at 2’52) 1st overall
“Michel came past us at about km 40 and opened until CP1. It was really great to watch my friend, who I have known since we both rode trials together 16 years ago, come on only his second rallye and ride with such assurance. Then about 2 kms after CP1 we all took the wrong track and by the time I realised our mistake Michel was gone.”
Michel Gau (Gauloises KTM) 3rd (at 10’31) 3rd overall (at 1.02’36)
“It was a nice stage – beautiful scenery and very varied. I started well and caught Cyril and David pretty quickly and then opened for about 60 kms before taking the wrong direction. I was concentrated on doing my our navigation, so that by the time I realised my error they were long gone. In all I must have lost ten minutes and although I tried to catch them up again by that time they were too far ahead.”
Jean Louis Schlesser (Gauloises Schlesser) 1st and 3rd overall (at 10’38)
“We had an almost perfect stage. We got past De Villier when he made a mistake in a village and then came up behind Saby. When he couldn’t see De Villier in his mirrors anymore he let us past. Then 5 km from the end we hit a rock hidden in the grass and shredded the tyre, to finish the special on the rim.”
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Stage Results:
General Results:
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Etape 7 URGUP/ANKARA |
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The race : In the bikes victory on the special went to David Casteu (Gauloises KTM) ahead of Michel Gau (Gauloises KTM) (at 2’18) and Carlo De Gavardo (at 4’32). Overall it was an all blue final podium, with Cyril Despres (Gauloises KTM) winning the rallye ahead of Casteu (at 34’11) and Gau (at 1.00’16).
In the cars, victory on the last special went to Bruno Saby, ahead of his Volkswagen team mate Giniel De Villiers (0’24), with Jean Louis Schlesser (Gauloises Schlesser) 3rd (at 4’36). Those results mirror the overall, with Saby winning 1’16 ahead of De Villiers and 15’14 in front of Jean Louis Schlesser. In winning the Rallye D’Orient Saby also wins the 2005 FIA Rallye-Raid World Cup.
The T2 production category went to Rousselot (6th at 2.21’18) ahead of Chabot (9th at 3.26’59) and Bourgin 10th (at 3.35’51).
Cyril Despres (Gauloises KTM)
“Today’s special was a resume of the whole rallye, with beautiful scenery and lots of change of direction - globally it rounds up a very positive week. Positive for number of reasons. Firstly, and most obviously, because I won! While it is true that not all the top riders were present, a win is a win and is always something to celebrate. Secondly because the prototype bike performed as we had hoped. There are still things that need improving, but overall it was easier and more efficient to ride than the ‘old’ bike and a major step in the right direction. Positive also
because I got the chance to ride injured. That might sound a strange thing to say, but up until now I have been relatively lucky in rallye-raid and haven’t had to carry an injury for a long time. Here I have had to learn to manage my damaged shoulder and my various aches and pains, and while it wasn’t easy, I learnt a lot of things in a relatively low stress context that might prove very useful in the future. And finally positive because my friend Michel Gau finished third on only his second ever rallye and proved that he has exactly what it takes to be my
‘water-carrier’ on the next Dakar. He didn’t crash, he didn’t break the bike, in fact he rode so smoothly he hardly wore out the tyres. Sure he made a couple of navigation errors, but as anyone will tell, the navigation here is particularly tough.”
David Casteu (Gauloises KTM)
“Once again it was a tricky stage where you had to stay very concentrated if you didn’t want to get lost. Coming out of the villages it was especially difficult to find the right track.
It is three days now that I have been opening the piste and I think I have definitely moved up a gear concerning my navigation abilities. I was third in Morocco and am second here and feel that I am making steady progress in preparation for the Dakar.”
Michel Gau (Gauloises KTM)
“I am very happy with how the race has gone, and given that this is only my second rallye-raid, delighted to have finished on the podium. All through the race I never rode at 100%, just concentrated on learning the navigation and not damaging myself or the bike. At the moment there is no fixed programme for the future. The idea was to come here and see how I got on and then make a decision. Given that everything has worked out pretty well, hopefully this won’t be the end of the story.”
Jean-Louis Schlesser (Gauloises Schlesser)
“We started really well and were 45 seconds ahead when we had a puncture at km 40. We could see that we had pulled out a good lead because De Villiers didn’t come past us until we had stowed away the punctured tyre. After that we just sat in everybody’s dust. Overall it was a great rallye. Fantastic scenery and a really good atmosphere between all the competitors. For us the going was too twisty to be able to fight with the Volkswagens but I reckon I car will be good for the Dakar.”
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Stage Results:
General Results:
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