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Dubaï Palm Jebel Ali et Palm Jumeirah

       

The odds may be stacking up against Jean-Louis Schlesser as he looks for a sixth victory in the UAE Desert Challenge, but motorsport's man for all seasons is warning his rivals that he's ready for a big fight. Driving the familiar but ever-evolving buggy with which he has become synonymous, Schlesser will need all his experience, and a total absence of misfortune, to have a chance of outpacing the prototype Mitsubishis, VWs and BMWs assembling in the UAE. It's the kind of desert challenge that is food and drink for one of the sport's most versatile and colourful characters, who relishes the battle ahead in the final round of the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup.

"I finished third in Tunisia and second in Morocco, and there were Mitsus and VWs there as well," he points out. "Of course, we have the BMWs in the Desert Challenge as well, so it will be very tough. I'm going there to make more improvements to the car, and I've got a new co-pilot (Emmanuel Guigou) who is rallying for the first time. He has no experience at all. But I think I can still win if I don't have any bad luck," adds Schlesser. "I might struggle in the dunes because I only have two wheel drive. But at worst I can be a real pain in the backside to the others."

Schlesser scored his first Desert Challenge victory in 1994 and won again the following year, going on to complete three more successive wins in the event from 1999 to become the dominant force in the World Cup series. Third on his last appearance in the event in 2003, he returns to his happy hunting ground after a two-year gap determined to make the most of his latest desert adventure, and looking forward to a reunion with Desert Challenge founder, Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

"I really enjoy the Desert Challenge," says Schlesser. "Mohammed Ben Sulayem has become a great friend and we always get a warm welcome in the UAE. These are the main reasons for going there again. The people are very hospitable. They treat you as friends, not clients, and this is the way it should be in rallies. Two of my wins were very tough because I drove without a co-pilot. Then one year when I went there in I was in pain because, three months earlier, I'd broken two bones in my back during the Master Rally in Russia. The doctor said maybe I shouldn't do it, but I did and won, so that was very satisfying."

2006/11/04 | 20:06 CET | Editor: UAE Live-Team/Tony Lewis
 

Etape 1 :

 

5 Novembre : Dubai
Super Spéciale 1,8 Km

The Prologue in Dubai was not a good day twodrive-Buggies, especially for the French Jean-Louis Schlesser and the Russian FIA Marathonrally Worldcup Winner Sergej Shmakov. Both Buggies, the Schlesser Ford and Zil-Buggy, collided in the Parc Fermé - just before the start of the Prologue. Shmakov damaged one front-wheel of the Schlesser-Buggy, so Schlesser prompt lost the wheel during the first metres of the Prologue and had to change it. The result: The French, who wants to win the Rally, finished as the last participant with over 3 minutes left to the first team Corbett/Mohr in their South African built Nissan Navara.

Also all other buggies had to fight with extremely soft sand of the Prologue. Some minutes before the start the Organizers stabilized the fine sand with water, but this abided not very long. After the first cars passed the route the sand got big ditches and especially the two-wheel-drive Buggies became traction problems - so we are looking forward to a Buggy-Mix in the Results of Monday.
 

Résultats : 

Classement Spéciale

01	Corbett/Mohr	Nissan Navara	00:02:51	+ 00:00:00
02	Alphand/Picard	Mitsubishi Pajero	00:02:51	+ 00:00:00"30
03	Sousa/Schulz	VW Race Touareg	00:02:52	+ 00:00:01"50
04	Masuoka/Maimon	Mitsubishi Pajero	00:02:55	+ 00:00:03"60
05	Mayer/Sand	Mega	00:02:55	+ 00:00:04:50
06	Peterhansel/Cottret	Mitsubishi Pajero	00:02:56	+ 00:00:05"00
07	Vatanen/Pons	VW Race Touareg	00:02:56	+ 00:00:05"20
08	Al Attiyah/Guehennec	BMW X3 CC	00:02:59	+ 00:00:08"30
09	Reid/Sutch	Nissan Patrol	00:03:04	+ 00:00:13"30
10	Alhelei/Alkendi	Chevrolet	00:03:05	+ 00:00:13"80
39	Schlesser/Guigou	Schlesser Ford	00:06:03	+ 00:03:11"00

 

Etape 2 :

 

6 Novembre : Abu Dhabi-Moreeb
Speciale 1 - 284.45 Km

  

 

     

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Carlos Sainz and his Codriver Michel Périn finished the today´s opening selective section of the UAE Desert Challenge 2006 in front of the French Mitsubishi-Pilot and Dakar-Winner Luc Alphand and the Qatari Nasser Al Attiyah in his X-Raid BMW X3CC. Alphand´s Team mates Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret had been the fastest crew through an earlier passage control on the desert debut of the new MPR13 version of the Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution, but lost valuable time in soft sand and damaged the car´s steering in the process of reaching the stage finish.

Alphand and Picard began the day in second position and quickly passed Marc Corbett´s Nissan Pick-Up, enabling them to lead the car category through the stage. They were third at PC1 and fourth at PC2. "The objective was to set a good pace from the start, because you never know when you are the first car in the stage what the actual pace of the other cars can be," said Alphand. "It was easier than I thought. Marc Corbett was pushing quite hard in the Nissan and the bikes were making some tracks, which were easy to follow. I am happy today and in a good position for tomorrow."

The stage was held in punishing heat and humidity and was an excellent endurance test for MMSP´s new MPR13 which had turned a competitive wheel for the first time in Sunday´s Super Special stage. "We were going well, having a good stage," said co-driver Cottret. "Then we got caught in some soft sand in a dune and lost around 25-30 minutes. We also damaged the steering, so we had to finish the stage with power steering problems."

Hiroshi Masuoka and Pascal Maimon started the stage fourth on the road and held sixth at PC1, but lost time in the subsequent section with navigational problems. "We were running well," said Masuoka. "The stage was very fast, but then we made a small navigational problem and I think it cost us a few minutes."

The hustle and bustle of Dubai´s congested road network was a far cry from the remote and small tree-lined desert highways of the oil-rich emirate of Abu Dhabi for teams this morning. Following the ceremonial start on the picturesque Corniche of the UAE´s commercial capital, the opening competitive stage began at Al-Dafrah and took place over fast sand flats and high-speed gravel tracks. There were three passage controls at the 78.24km, 172.87 km and 234.18 km points.

Meanwhile, service and assistance vehicles reached the Moreeb Hill bivouac, nestled in the shadow of a giant sand dune, via an asphalt highway, passing the renowned "Rainbow Sheikh´s" (Sheikh Hamad Bin Hamdan Al-Nahyan) eccentric and remote car museum and traversing the desert towns of Tharwaniyah and Mizairah and the oasis settlement and birthplace of the late UAE ruler Sheikh Zayed at remote Liwa,

"It was a good start for Luc and Gilles and they are in a good position for tomorrow," said MMSP´s Managing and Sporting Director Dominique Serieys. "Stéphane proved that the MPR13 is competitive, but he has had problems today. But this is just the start. We will see what the position will be on Friday afternoon. I think that Stéphane is in a good position now to push hard over the next few days."

Résultats :

Classement Etape

Classement Général

 

Résultats :

 

 Classement Spéciale

Classement Général

Etape 4:

 

8 Novembre : Moreeb-Moreeb
Spéciale 3 - 262,45 Km

     

 

Etape 5:

9 Novembre :Moreeb-Moreeb
Spéciale 4 - 378,90 Km

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Barring any final leg disasters, two Frenchman, and a Spaniard can look forward to celebrations in Dubai tomorrow afternoon (Friday) when the UAE Desert Challenge returns its survivors from the Empty Quarter. Luc Alphand, skier extraordinaire turned driver, leads by 20 mins 44 secs from Mitsubishi team-mate Stephane Peterhansel after the 378.9km Nissan Special Stage 4 and looks certain to follow up his Dakar Rally triumph at the start of the year with another win to round it off.

Equally in control in a KTM-dominated bikes tussle, Spain’s Marc Coma extended his overnight lead by 11 minutes to head Frenchman Cyril Despres by more than 18 minutes with a day to go. Climbing one place to fourth following the enforced retirement on the day of Spaniard Isidre Esteve, French rider David Casteu will succeed Coma as FIM Cross Country Rallies world champion as long as he avoids a similar misfortune on the last leg.

Nissan’s unofficial "king of the desert" title for the day went to two-times former World Rally Champion, Carlos Sainz, who has been having an up and down time on his first competitive appearance in the Middle East. After winning the opening day’s special stage in great style, he was left in the desert wilderness by a broken drive shaft 24 hours later and must now hope that today’s (Thursday) performance can be matched by consistency in the Volkswagen Race Touareg 2 prototype. That is something that is certainly not happening for VW at present, a point emphasised by Ari Vatanen’s retirement with a blown engine after his car’s gearbox broke the previous day.

Portugal’s Carlos Sousa in another VW, followed by Qatar’s Middle East rally champion Nasser Al Attiyah - second fastest on the day - and Germany’s Jutta Kleinschmidt in two X-raid BMWs, complete the top six. Flying the flag for the UAE, Liberty Chevrolet team-mates Yahya Alhelei and Ahmad Bin Suqat both hold the last two top ten places ahead of Sainz in 11th position.

Relaxing back at the Moreeb Hill bivouac after another long and hot day at the office, Carlos Sainz said: "It was a lot tougher today, very hot. The first part was a bit slower than usual but in the second part of the stage we tried to go a bit quicker and it worked. We have come here to try different things. Some have worked and others not as well as we would have liked. But in general we should be quite pleased, and we’ve still got two months to prepare for the Dakar Rally."

It will take a double disaster en route to the finish in Dubai to prevent Mitsubishi from claiming the FIA Marathonrally Worldcup team title, although that almost happened today. Peterhansel reached the finish of the Nissan stage to say: "It’s been a long day and not easy. At around 60-70kms we hit a big dune and lot three or four minutes, losing a bit of the front of the car in the process." Alphand, whose victory chances almost went downhill on the day, said: "We started fast and then we hit a sand dune, probably the same one as Stephane, and then lost time with navigation. In the final part the chief said to slow down - no need to risk things by chasing Carlos and Jean-Louis."
Desert Challenge 3

Making it a French 1-2-3 at the top of the cars battle is veteran Jean-Louis Schlesser, whose buggy has only two wheel drive but holds an abundance of experience and desert knowhow in the cockpit.

Motobiker Marc Coma, who was in Casteu’s boots last year, needing only to finish the event to become world champion, said: "It’s been a long ride today and too hot. I was able to pass Chris Blais at 60kms and from there on being first was difficult. But it’s been a perfect day on the bike." Despres, in a little discomfort at the end, explained: "Today was much harder. I had a bad start when I crashed in the subka section at 40kms. I couldn’t sit on my bike because I hurt my backside. I feel better now that I’ve finished."

American Blais, who won his first ever stage the previous day, was sandwiched in between Coma and Despres this time to go fifth overall. "It’s been different today but good," he said. "There were a lot of dunes and some of them were very tough. Coma caught me at 60kms. I stayed with him for a while but he slowly moved away. It’s been really hot. The terrain is not like at home in California. There’s a possibility I’ll come back to the Desert Challenge again."

Meanwhile, the game of patience goes on for Casteu, although the world title is now almost within sight. "I had to really concentrate a lot today because there were so many tracks from the first day so I had to be really focused," he said.

Tomorrow (Friday) is the final day of the UAE Desert Challenge and the competitive action is split into two selective sections. The fifth sandy 122.45 km selective starts on the edge of the Al Dhafrah road to the east of the Humeem desert highway and passes the Haleeba mast focal point and Sheikh Zayed’s hunting patrol station, before finishing 68 km south of the Al Ain truck road. A 103.85 km liaison guides crews to the start of the final 163.90 km competitive section north of the Al Ain highway at Khatam. The selective finishes south of the Dubai Autodrome, near to Bab Al Shams and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum’s endurance village at L’Isaili. A 44.85 km liaison takes crews on to the ceremonial finish at the Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) in Mina Seyahi, around 30 km west of Dubai.