30
décembre 2008
30
décembre 2008|
AFRICA RACE 2009
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Total : 4089 km de Spéciales/4089 km of Stages et 3401 km de
Liaisons/ and
3401 km
of Road Section
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30
décembre 2008liaison : 238km | SS : 173km | liaison : 280km | Total : 691km |
| Pos | N° | Pilote | Marque | Grp/Pos | Cl/Pos | Scratch | Diff | Péna |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 200 | SCHLESSER Jean louis (F) DEBRON Arnaud (F) |
SCHLESSER | T1 / 1 | 1.3 / 1 | 01h21'12 | 00h00 | 2 | 211 | LETHIER Francois (F) PELLEN Renaud (MA) |
TOYOTA | T2 / 1 | 2.2 / 1 | 01h26'42 | 00h05'30 | 00h00 |
| 3 | 214 | PUEBLA GIL Fernando (E) LARDON OLMEDA Francisco (E) |
SUZUKI | T1 / 2 | 1.1 / 1 | 01h29'57 | 00h08'45 | 00h00 | 4 | 203 | IVANOV Andrey (RUS) DEMYANENKO Vladimir (RUS) |
NISSAN | T1 / 3 | 1.1 / 2 | 01h34'57 | 00h13'45 | 00h00 |
| 5 | 205 | VARENTSOV Artem (RUS) ELAGIN Roman (RUS) |
TOYOTA | T2 / 2 | 2.2 / 2 | 01h37'36 | 00h16'24 | 00h00 | 6 | 208 | ABOUYOUSSEF Abdelhamid (ET) COTEL Herve (F) |
TOYOTA | T1 / 4 | 1.1 / 3 | 01h38'40 | 00h17'28 | 00h00 |
| 7 | 212 | AREGALL Jaume (E) LANDA Rafael (E) |
TOYOTA | T1 / 5 | 1.2 / 1 | 01h44'00 | 00h22'48 | 00h00 | 8 | 213 | VELA IBANEZ Ricardo (E) PUERTO Jose mario (E) |
LAND ROVER | T1 / 6 | 1.2 / 2 | 01h45'01 | 00h23'49 | 00h00 |
| 9 | 207 | SAVENKO Sergey (RUS) SHUKHNOV Valery (RUS) |
HONDA | T1 / 7 | 1.3 / 2 | 01h52'21 | 00h31'09 | 00h00 | 10 | 206 | BONDAREV Igor (RUS) GORELOV Alexander (RUS) |
TOYOTA | T2 / 3 | 2.2 / 3 | 01h54'10 | 00h32'58 | 00h00 |
| 11 | 210 | LORENZINI Daniel (F) LORENZINI Maxime (F) |
MITSUBISHI | T1 / 8 | 1.1 / 4 | 02h34'33 | 01h13'21 | 00h00 |
Communiqué - Release:
UNE PREMIERE ETAPE TRANQUILLE SUR L'AFRICA RACE
La caravane de l'Africa Race a posé ses roues sur le sol africain ce matin à
8h00 à Nador, ville portuaire située sur la côte méditerranéenne au nord du
Maroc.
Sitôt débarqués du ferry de la COMANAV après 36 heures de traversée depuis
Sète, les 23 véhicules en course se sont élancés dans une étape de quelques
691 Km dont 117 de spéciale au lieu des 170 Km initialement prévus. Un
secteur sélectif raccourci pour des raisons de timing.
Une première étape sans aucun problème pour les motards et notamment pour
Juan Manuel PELLICER,
premier des deux roues à se présenter à l'arrivée. " Je me suis attaché à
prendre la mesure de ma moto, la nouvelle BMW 450 de Rallye. Je suis
agréablement surpris par son moteur et sa partie cycle très saine. La
navigation n'était pas très facile mais je ne me suis pas perdu. La fin de
spéciale était très rapide et j'ai pu tester la vitesse de pointe de la
moto. "
Le pilote Espagnol prend donc la tête de la catégorie moto de l'Africa Race,
devant le Français Arnaud
JACQUARD, déçu d'avoir
laisser échapper son adversaire en choisissant une mauvaise route après
l'avoir pourtant rattrapé. Le pilote allemand
Thomas SCHATTAT
prend quant à lui la troisième place à une vingtaine de minutes du leader.
Rien à signaler non plus dans la catégorie auto où tous les concurrents ont
passé la ligne d'arrivée sans encombre,
Jean Louis SCHLESSER
en tête. Le ''Patron'' qui s'est dit très émus de gagner la première étape
de cette nouvelle épreuve qu'est l'Africa Race. Le Buggy aux couleurs
POWERADE s'est imposé devant le surprenant TOYOTA de
François LETHIER,
véhicule T2, c'est-à-dire d'origine, qui surclasse les protos T1 et
notamment le SUZUKI de l'Espagnol
Fernando PUEBLA GIL,
troisième à moins de dix minutes de SCHLESSER. Pour leur première spéciale
en Rallye Africain, les
LORENZINI père et fils ont
connu leur première galère en crevant deux pneus en même temps et en
connaissant des problèmes de cric, le tout à deux kilomètres du contrôle
d'arrivée.
Si tout s'est bien déroulé en auto et en moto, en revanche il y a eu du
rififi dans la catégorie camion. En effet, les deux camions du Team
DE ROOY
se sont égarés et ont perdu plus de 25 minutes sur le SCANIA du Hongrois
Miclos KOVACS
et l'UNIMOG de l'Italien
Giacomo VISMARA,
respectivement premier et deuxième. Autant dire que
Jan DE ROOY
ne sautait pas de joie en répondant aux
questions de l'équipe TV de l'Africa Race sur la ligne d'arrivée.
Une liaison de 280 Km attendait encore les concurrents pour rejoindre le
bivouac de Boutnib installé avec le soutien de l'Office Marocain du Tourisme
Marocain, partenaire de l'Africa Race. Un exercice difficile compte tenu de
la température relativement basse et du vent qui soufflait dans cette région
du Maroc en fin d'après-midi.
Demain, la seconde étape longue de 588 Km dont 334 de spéciale conduira les
participants à Ouarzazate. Là, le bivouac installé au bord du lac
accueillera la caravane de l'Africa Race pour fêter la nuit de la Saint
Sylvestre sous les étoiles du Maroc.
AFRICA RACE : A CALM FIRST STAGE
The Africa Race caravan has reached Africa this morning at 8 in Nador, a
port city located on the mediterranean coast in the north of Morocco.
After a 36 hour journey accross the sea, the 23 race vehicles got out of the
COMANAV ferry and started immediately the first 691 km stage. The selective
Spéciale was shortened from 170 to 117 km due to matters of timing.
It was an easy first stage for the bike riders and especially for Juan
Manuel PELLICER who was the first to cross the finish line. “I first had to
knwo more about my new bike, the Rallye 450 BMW, and I confess that I have
been pleasantly surprised by its engine and its sane chassis. Navigating was
not so easy but I did not get lost and the end of the Spéciale was very fast.
It was an opportunity to see how fast this bike could go.”
The Spaniard has taken the first place of the bike category of the Africa
Race. The Frenchman Arnaud JACQUARD, very disappointed after having left the
BMW rider get away because of a wrong choice in his route, is second. The
German rider Thomas SCHATTAT has appeared twenty minutes after the leader at
the third rank.
No problem in the car category either. All the competitors crossed the
finish line with Jean Louis SCHLESSER as leader. The “Boss” felt very
touched following this victory on the first stage of the very first edition
of the Africa Race. The POWERADE colored Buggy has finished before the
astonishing François LETHIER’s TOYOTA T2, a non-modified car which has
outclassed the T1 prototypes and especially the Fernando PUEBLA GIL’s SUZUKI
appearing at the third rank, ten minutes behind SCHLESSER. For their first
african rally stage, two kilometres far from the finish line, the LORENZINIS
experienced their first misadventure puncturing two tyres at the same time
followed by problems with their lifting jack.
If cars and bikes have had no problems during this first stage, problems
emerged in the truck category. Both DE ROOY Team’s trucks got lost and
conceded more than 25 minutes to the benefit of the Hungarian Miclos
KOVACS’s SCANIA and the Italian Giacomo VISMARA’s UNIMOG which finished
respectively first and second. In other words, we can say that Jan DE ROOY
was not a happy man while answering the Africa Race TV-staff interview.
After the Spéciale, a 280 km Liaison was still to be covered to reach the
bivouac set up with the support of the Moroccan National Tourist Office, one
of the main Africa race partner, located in Boutnib. A perilous exercice if
we consider the low temperature and the strong wind which was blowing in
this region of Morocco at the end of the afternoon.
The second stage, a 334 km Spéciale for a total of 588 km, will conduct the
competitors towards Ouarzazate. The bivouac settled there near the lake will
welcome the Africa Race caravan to celebrate new year’s eve under the
moroccan starry sky.
31
décembre 2008
Liaison : 4km | SS : 334km | liaison : 250km | Total : 588km
The stony track will be in the first 50 kilometres followed by sandy oueds leading us to the edge of the first dunes of the Africa Race. The rest of the stage will be a chain of various grounds, alternation of grounder track and stony parcel. The arrival will be judged on the edge of the Ouarzazate Lake, where the whole caravan will celebrate an amazing New Year’s Eve with flavour and dances of the orient.
Résultat spéciale :
| Pos | N° | Pilote | Marque | Grp/Pos | Cl/Pos | Scratch | Diff | Péna |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 203 | IVANOV Andrey (RUS) DEMYANENKO Vladimir (RUS) |
NISSAN | T1 / 1 | 1.1 / 1 | 04h45'41 | 00h00 | 2 | 200 | SCHLESSER Jean louis (F) DEBRON Arnaud (F) |
SCHLESSER | T1 / 2 | 1.3 / 1 | 04h48'06 | 00h02'25 | 00h00 |
| 3 | 208 | ABOUYOUSSEF Abdelhamid (ET) COTEL Herve (F) |
TOYOTA | T1 / 3 | 1.1 / 2 | 05h08'09 | 00h22'28 | 00h00 | 4 | 205 | VARENTSOV Artem (RUS) ELAGIN Roman (RUS) |
TOYOTA | T2 / 1 | 2.2 / 1 | 05h09'50 | 00h24'09 | 00h00 |
| 5 | 207 | SAVENKO Sergey (RUS) SHUKHNOV Valery (RUS) |
HONDA | T1 / 4 | 1.3 / 2 | 05h36'56 | 00h51'15 | 00h00 | 6 | 212 | AREGALL Jaume (E) LANDA Rafael (E) |
TOYOTA | T1 / 5 | 1.2 / 1 | 05h44'16 | 00h58'35 | 00h00 |
| 7 | 211 | LETHIER Francois (F) PELLEN Renaud (MA) |
TOYOTA | T2 / 2 | 2.2 / 2 | 05h53'52 | 01h08'11 | 00h00 | 8 | 206 | BONDAREV Igor (RUS) GORELOV Alexander (RUS) |
TOYOTA | T2 / 3 | 2.2 / 3 | 06h40'00 | 01h54'19 | 06h40 |
| 9 | 214 | PUEBLA GIL Fernando (E) LARDON OLMEDA Francisco (E) |
SUZUKI | T1 / 6 | 1.1 / 3 | 06h40'00 | 01h54'19 | 06h40 | 10 | 210 | LORENZINI Daniel (F) LORENZINI Maxime (F) |
MITSUBISHI | T1 / 7 | 1.1 / 4 | 11h39'00 | 06h53'19 | 11h39 |
| 11 | 213 | VELA IBANEZ Ricardo (E) PUERTO Jose mario (E) |
LAND ROVER | T1 / 8 | 1.2 / 2 | 11h39'00 | 06h53'19 | 11h39 |
Résultat général :
| Pos | N° | Pilote | Marque | Grp/Pos | Cl/Pos | Scratch | Diff | Péna |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 200 | SCHLESSER Jean louis (F) DEBRON Arnaud (F) |
SCHLESSER | T1 / 1 | 1.3 / 1 | 06h09'18 | 00h00 | 2 | 203 | IVANOV Andrey (RUS) DEMYANENKO Vladimir (RUS) |
NISSAN | T1 / 2 | 1.1 / 1 | 06h20'38 | 00h11'20 | 00h00 |
| 3 | 208 | ABOUYOUSSEF Abdelhamid (ET) COTEL Herve (F) |
TOYOTA | T1 / 3 | 1.1 / 2 | 06h46'49 | 00h37'31 | 00h00 | 4 | 205 | VARENTSOV Artem (RUS) ELAGIN Roman (RUS) |
TOYOTA | T2 / 1 | 2.2 / 1 | 06h47'26 | 00h38'08 | 00h00 |
| 5 | 211 | LETHIER Francois (F) PELLEN Renaud (MA) |
TOYOTA | T2 / 2 | 2.2 / 2 | 07h20'34 | 01h11'16 | 00h00 | 6 | 212 | AREGALL Jaume (E) LANDA Rafael (E) |
TOYOTA | T1 / 4 | 1.2 / 1 | 07h28'16 | 01h18'58 | 00h00 |
| 7 | 207 | SAVENKO Sergey (RUS) SHUKHNOV Valery (RUS) |
HONDA | T1 / 5 | 1.3 / 2 | 07h29'17 | 01h19'59 | 00h00 | 8 | 214 | PUEBLA GIL Fernando (E) LARDON OLMEDA Francisco (E) |
SUZUKI | T1 / 6 | 1.1 / 3 | 10h09'57 | 04h00'39 | 08h40 |
| 9 | 206 | BONDAREV Igor (RUS) GORELOV Alexander (RUS) |
TOYOTA | T2 / 3 | 2.2 / 3 | 10h34'10 | 04h24'52 | 08h40 | 10 | 213 | VELA IBANEZ Ricardo (E) PUERTO Jose mario (E) |
LAND ROVER | T1 / 7 | 1.2 / 2 | 19h24'01 | 13h14'43 | 17h39 |
| 11 | 210 | LORENZINI Daniel (F) LORENZINI Maxime (F) |
MITSUBISHI | T1 / 8 | 1.1 / 4 | 20h13'33 | 14h04'15 | 17h39 |
Communiqué - Release:
AFRICA RACE : TOUT LE MONDE AU BIVOUAC DE OUARZAZATE POUR LE NOUVEL AN
La totalité des concurrents de l’Africa Race a rejoint le bivouac de
Ouarzazate pour fêter le passage vers la nouvelle année. Une bonne
nouvelle et une satisfaction pour les organisateurs compte tenu de la
difficulté en termes de navigation de cette deuxième étape.
Ce matin, dès le départ de cette étape de 588 km tracée entre Boutnib et
Ouarzazate, certains motards ont connu des soucis pour trouver la ligne
de départ. Cela commençait très fort et ce n’était qu’un début. En
effet, pour couvrir les 334 km de spéciale,
Arnaud JACQUART,
le vainqueur du jour, a mis près de 6 heures. Une moyenne plutôt faible
que le Franco Russe expliquait à l’arrivée : « J’ai rarement vu une
spéciale aussi compliquée en navigation. J’ai jardiné dès le kilomètre
25. Si bien qu’en arrivant au ravitaillement essence, j’avais une
trentaine de minutes de retard sur
PELLICER.
Je me voyais donc mal parti mais peu après le CP 2, je l’ai retrouvé,
complètement égaré et dans une colère noire. Nous avons dû escalader une
petite montagne pour rejoindre le point d’arrivée. Finalement, je
réalise une bonne opération, un peu par chance, mais je suis très
heureux de terminer l’année sur une victoire. » Bien que déçu de sa
journée, Juan Manuel
PELLICER et sa
BMW
possèdent toujours 4’25 d’avance au classement général sur le pilote
KTM.
Une chose est sûre, la bataille est bien engagée entre les deux favoris
de la course. A noter également la belle troisième place de
Thibault CHATELIER
qui récolte les fruits de son
excellente navigation depuis le départ. Le pilote de la
HONDA 400 XR
pointe désormais en quatrième
position et pourrait bien être la révélation de l’Africa Race en moto.
En auto, Jean Louis
SCHLESSER et Arnaud DEBRON
ont fait la trace. Le Russe
Andrey IVANOV a su en
profiter puisqu’il a remporté la spéciale au volant de son NISSAN
Pathfinder en devançant le Buggy
POWERADE
d’un peu plus de deux minutes. Cet excellent pilote, bien secondé par
Vladimir DEMYANENKO,
pointe à seulement 11’20’’ de SCHLESSER au classement général auto. Un
leader tout heureux à l’arrivée d’embrasser son frère Jean Paul venu
spécialement dans le sud de l’Atlas pour fêter le nouvel an. Très belle
opération également pour le pilote Egyptien
Abdelhamid ABOUYOUSSEF.
Le pilote du Buggy TOYOTA co-piloté par
Hervé COTEL,
le concepteur de la machine, a en effet terminé troisième de la
spéciale. Une place qu’il occupe également au général.
Dans la catégorie camion, après sa contreperformance d’hier,
Jan DE ROOY
a remis de l’ordre dans le classement. Il impose son IVECO devant le DAF
se son co-équipier Hans BEKX
et reprend du coup la tête
du général.
En attendant l’étape de demain longue de 862 Km et comportant la plus
longue spéciale du Rallye avec 492 Km, les participants de l’Africa Race
vont réveillonner au son des chants traditionnels marocains, sans
oublier les danseuses du ventre invitées à minuit pour accompagner le
Champagne.
AFRICA RACE : NEW YEAR’S EVE
AT THE OUARZAZATE BIVOUAC
All the competitors of the Africa Race have gathered in the bivouac set
up in Ouarzazate to celebrate new year’s eve, a good news and a
satisfaction for the organizers regarding the navigation difficulties of
this second stage.
This morning, at the beginning of this 588 km stage drawn between
Boutnib and Ouarzazate, some riders had difficulties to find the
starting line, an unusual fact. But it was only the beginning. Indeed,
to complete the 334 km Spéciale, the winner of the day, Arnaud JACQUART
has ridden his bike for almost 6 hours. Here are the reasons why this
stage was covered at such an average speed:”I had never seen before such
a complicated stage in terms of navigation. I was struggling to find my
way on km 25. When I stopped to refuel, I was thirty minutes behind
PELLICER. After CP 2 while Iwas thinking that I would not be able to
catch him, I saw him, completely lost and out of temper. We had to climb
a little mountain to join the finish line. Luckily, I finally made a
good operation but I feel pretty happy thanks to this victory to finish
year 2008.” In spite of this misadventure, Juan Manuel PELLICER and his
BMW are still 4’25 in front of the KTM rider. For sure, the fight
between both riders has only begun. We also have to underline the
performance of Thibault CHATELIER whose excellent navigation allowed him
to finish third. The HONDA 400 XR rider is now fourth at the general
ranking and is likely to be the revelation of the bike category of the
Africa Race.
In the car category, Jean Louis SCHLESSER and Arnaud DEBRON were the
first to start. Andrey IVANOV took advantage of this fact and won the
Spéciale behind the wheel of his NISSAN Pathfinder. He went two minutes
before the POWERADE Buggy. This brilliant pilot, well backed by Vladimir
DEMYANENKO is only now 11’20 behind SCHLESSER, a leader who seemed to be
glad to be joined by his brother Jean Paul who came especially in
southern Atlas to celebrate new year’s eve. The Egyptian Abdelhamid
ABOUYOUSSEF also made a good perfomance. The TOYOTA Buggy pilot and his
co-pilot Hervé COTEL, the car designer, finished third and appears at
the same rank in the general classification.
In the truck category, after the difficulties experienced the day before,
Jan DE ROOY is back on track. His IVECO finished before the DAF of his
team-mate Han BEKX and is back to the top of the classification.
Before the 862 km stage and its 492 km Spéciale, the longest one of the
rallye, the competitors of the Africa Race are to celebrate new year’s
eve enjoying the moroccan folklore and Champagne.
1
janvier 2009 La première partie de cette spéciale sera caillouteuse jusqu'au km 40 pour devenir de plus en plus roulante. A partir du km100, la piste est roulante et bosselée, bordée de cairns jusqu'à l'arrivée.
The first part special will be stony until km 40 to become more and more grounder. From km100, the track is grounder, dented and encircling by cairns until the arrival.
Résultat spéciale :
| Pos | N° | Pilote | Marque | Grp/Pos | Cl/Pos | Scratch | Diff | Péna |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 203 | IVANOV Andrey (RUS) DEMYANENKO Vladimir (RUS) |
NISSAN | T1 / 1 | 1.1 / 1 | 04h01'37 | 00h00 | 2 | 200 | SCHLESSER Jean louis (F) DEBRON Arnaud (F) |
SCHLESSER | T1 / 2 | 1.3 / 1 | 04h04'37 | 00h03'00 | 00h00 |
| 3 | 211 | LETHIER Francois (F) PELLEN Renaud (MA) |
TOYOTA | T2 / 1 | 2.2 / 1 | 04h06'20 | 00h04'43 | 00h00 | 4 | 205 | VARENTSOV Artem (RUS) ELAGIN Roman (RUS) |
TOYOTA | T2 / 2 | 2.2 / 2 | 04h07'39 | 00h06'02 | 00h00 |
| 5 | 206 | BONDAREV Igor (RUS) GORELOV Alexander (RUS) |
TOYOTA | T2 / 3 | 2.2 / 3 | 04h25'08 | 00h23'31 | 00h00 | 6 | 208 | ABOUYOUSSEF Abdelhamid (ET) COTEL Herve (F) |
TOYOTA | T1 / 3 | 1.1 / 2 | 04h27'52 | 00h26'15 | 00h00 |
| 7 | 207 | SAVENKO Sergey (RUS) SHUKHNOV Valery (RUS) |
HONDA | T1 / 4 | 1.3 / 2 | 04h35'07 | 00h33'30 | 00h00 | 8 | 212 | AREGALL Jaume (E) LANDA Rafael (E) |
TOYOTA | T1 / 5 | 1.2 / 1 | 04h43'16 | 00h41'39 | 00h00 |
| 9 | 214 | PUEBLA GIL Fernando (E) LARDON OLMEDA Francisco (E) |
SUZUKI | T1 / 6 | 1.1 / 3 | 05h23'00 | 01h21'23 | 00h00 | 10 | 213 | VELA IBANEZ Ricardo (E) PUERTO Jose mario (E) |
LAND ROVER | T1 / 7 | 1.2 / 2 | 09h40'00 | 05h38'23 | 09h40 |
Résultat général :
| Pos | N° | Pilote | Marque | Grp/Pos | Cl/Pos | Scratch | Diff | Péna |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 200 | SCHLESSER Jean louis (F) DEBRON Arnaud (F) |
SCHLESSER | T1 / 1 | 1.3 / 1 | 10h13'55 | 00h00 | 2 | 203 | IVANOV Andrey (RUS) DEMYANENKO Vladimir (RUS) |
NISSAN | T1 / 2 | 1.1 / 1 | 10h22'15 | 00h08'20 | 00h00 |
| 3 | 205 | VARENTSOV Artem (RUS) ELAGIN Roman (RUS) |
TOYOTA | T2 / 1 | 2.2 / 1 | 10h55'05 | 00h41'10 | 00h00 | 4 | 208 | ABOUYOUSSEF Abdelhamid (ET) COTEL Herve (F) |
TOYOTA | T1 / 3 | 1.1 / 2 | 11h14'41 | 01h00'46 | 00h00 |
| 5 | 211 | LETHIER Francois (F) PELLEN Renaud (MA) |
TOYOTA | T2 / 2 | 2.2 / 2 | 11h26'54 | 01h12'59 | 00h00 | 6 | 207 | SAVENKO Sergey (RUS) SHUKHNOV Valery (RUS) |
HONDA | T1 / 4 | 1.3 / 2 | 12h04'24 | 01h50'29 | 00h00 |
| 7 | 212 | AREGALL Jaume (E) LANDA Rafael (E) |
TOYOTA | T1 / 5 | 1.2 / 1 | 12h11'32 | 01h57'37 | 00h00 | 8 | 206 | BONDAREV Igor (RUS) GORELOV Alexander (RUS) |
TOYOTA | T2 / 3 | 2.2 / 3 | 14h59'18 | 04h45'23 | 08h40 |
| 9 | 214 | PUEBLA GIL Fernando (E) LARDON OLMEDA Francisco (E) |
SUZUKI | T1 / 6 | 1.1 / 3 | 15h32'57 | 05h19'02 | 08h40 | 10 | 213 | VELA IBANEZ Ricardo (E) PUERTO Jose mario (E) |
LAND ROVER | T1 / 7 | 1.2 / 2 | 33h04'01 | 22h50'06 | 31h19 |
Communiqué - Release:
Avec 305 Km au lieu de 492 Km initialement prévus, cette troisième spéciale de l'Africa Race a tout de même tenu toutes ses promesses. En parlant de ce tracé relativement cassant, René Metge avait évoqué de possibles surprises.
HANS BEKX AND HIS DAF MAKES A GREAT START FOR THIS NEW YEAR
With only 305 Km instead of the 492 KM initially planned, this third Africa Race’s Special kept all its promises. While describing today’s Special, René Metge evoked some surprises concerning the rocky tracks. The Sporting Director didn’t knew he was going to be so right. For the first time since the prototypes are forbidden in trucks category, one of these desert giant got the scratch, in front of all bikes and cars. This performance is due to the Dutch driver Hans BEKX thanks to his DE ROOY team’s DAF. The team actually nearly doubled this victory ; in fact the boss Jan DE ROOY led the whole stage until 5 KM before the finish line. Unfortunately, the Dutch’s IVECO hit the truck in a cut seriously damaging the steering gear. Thirty minutes stop were necessary to try fixing it the best he could, but he finally reached the arrival only 18’18” behind Hans BEKX, the new leader of the truck’s category. With less than a 17 minutes gap between the 2 Dutchs but still about an hour ahead the Hungarian Miklos KOVACS on SCANIA and Giocomo VISMARA’s UNIMOG, the truck race will be passionate for sure.
Good player, the car racer Jean Louis SCHLESSER congratulated Hans KEKX on the arrival line. The car’s leader had quite a rough day as the Russian Andrey IVANOV beat him once more of three minutes.
This surprising timing is due to a rim crack on the POWERADE buggy. Jean Louis SCHLESSER himself was amazed: “Since the beginning I felt the car had an unusual performance. We’ve tried to analyze the problem with my copilot Arnaud, we have lost a lot of time before realizing we had to change the hiten wheel. Nothing bad for the classification but IVANOV is getting closer and we’d better keep our eyes open … and now on the trucks as well !”
After encountering problems on the TOYOTA’s shock absorbers, the Franco Moroccan team François LETHIER and Renaud PELLEN appeared third on today’s Special. Once again, it’s a great result for a T2 vehicle that we can now find fifth on the general classification, behind the Russian Artem VARENTSOV’s TOYOTA Land Cruiser and the buggy of the Egyptian Abdelhamid ABOUYOUSSEF who chose to be careful.
As for the bikes, the Spanish Juan Manuel PELLICER apprehended this Special where he had a bad fall in 2006. However he succeeds with his BMW 450 in front of Arnaud JACQUART’s powerful KTM 690 navigating without his material broken on a bad fall to avoid a local truck.
On the General Overall, PELLICER is 8 minutes ahead while the German Thomas SCHATTAT, the Senegalese Jean Hughes MONEYRON and the French Thibault CHATELIER piloting usually together are respectively 3rd, 4th and 5th.
A quick word to finish on the 2 raid bikers, Laurent CASTERS and Marc BERINSTAIN who chose to leave the Africa Race without the timing pressure, are enjoying the experience. The followed about 80% of the stage and plan to reach Dakar.
Tomorrow, because of the strong rains which hit the Moroccan’s Atlantic coast these days, the circle around Fort Bou Jerif has been shortened.
This decision isn’t such bad news as the competitors are already showing some signs of fatigue by the Africa Race rhythm.
2
janvier 2009
The first 30 kilometers will take place on a narrow stony track. From km33 to km72, beach followed by climbing on the plateau. From km 115 to 260, the competitors will drive on the last day track in the opposite way. Then, during almost 100km, the tracks become grounder with an alternation of grounds. The stage will finish with a very fast track.
Résultat spéciale :
| Pos | N° | Pilote | Marque | Grp/Pos | Cl/Pos | Scratch | Diff | Péna |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 203 | IVANOV Andrey (RUS) DEMYANENKO Vladimir (RUS) |
NISSAN | T1 / 1 | 1.1 / 1 | 03h34'30 | 00h00 | 2 | 200 | SCHLESSER Jean
louis (F) DEBRON Arnaud (F) |
SCHLESSER | T1 / 2 | 1.3 / 1 | 03h39'36 | 00h05'06 | 00h00 |
| 3 | 205 | VARENTSOV
Artem (RUS) ELAGIN Roman (RUS) |
TOYOTA | T2 / 1 | 2.2 / 1 | 03h46'54 | 00h12'24 | 00h00 | 4 | 208 | ABOUYOUSSEF
Abdelhamid (ET) COTEL Herve (F) |
TOYOTA | T1 / 3 | 1.1 / 2 | 04h26'19 | 00h51'49 | 00h00 |
| 5 | 207 | SAVENKO Sergey
(RUS) SHUKHNOV Valery (RUS) |
HONDA | T1 / 4 | 1.3 / 2 | 04h51'00 | 01h16'30 | 04h51 | 6 | 212 | AREGALL Jaume (E) LANDA Rafael (E) |
TOYOTA | T1 / 5 | 1.2 / 1 | 04h59'22 | 01h24'52 | 00h00 |
| 7 | 213 | VELA IBANEZ Ricardo
(E) PUERTO Jose mario (E) |
LAND ROVER | T1 / 6 | 1.2 / 2 | 04h59'59 | 01h25'29 | 00h00 | 8 | 206 | BONDAREV Igor (RUS) GORELOV Alexander (RUS) |
TOYOTA | T2 / 2 | 2.2 / 2 | 05h12'00 | 01h37'30 | 00h00 |
| 9 | 211 | LETHIER Francois (F) PELLEN Renaud (MA) |
TOYOTA | T2 / 3 | 2.2 / 3 | 08h07'00 | 04h32'30 | 08h07 | 10 | 214 | PUEBLA GIL Fernando
(E) LARDON OLMEDA Francisco (E) |
SUZUKI | T1 / 7 | 1.1 / 3 | 08h07'00 | 04h32'30 | 08h07 |
Résultat général :
| Pos | N° | Pilote | Marque | Grp/Pos | Cl/Pos | Scratch | Diff | Péna |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 200 | SCHLESSER Jean louis (F) DEBRON Arnaud (F) |
SCHLESSER | T1 / 1 | 1.3 / 1 | 13h53'31 | 00h00 | 2 |