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| 2003.10.17 |
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NEW NISSAN PICKUP DEBUTS IN DUBAI DESERT CHALLENGE…
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Nissan will debut its 2004 version of the Nissan Pickup in the UAE Desert Challenge, the final round of this year's Cross-Country Rally World Cup. The race, which starts on 20th October, will be the first real test for the new car, following a week of intense testing in the south of Morocco last month.
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The Desert Challenge: a real test bed…
The Desert Challenge in Dubai is a real-life test for the teams entered in the next Dakar. The final race of the season, it will allow a number of technical areas to be validated or to be completely revised. It is an ideal proving ground, with lots of small and large dunes, as well as wide tracks often called " the desert motorways ".
To get the most out of this final rehearsal before the Dakar, two vehicles will be entered. They will be driven by experienced Ari Vatanen and the South African Giniel de Villiers, winner of this year's Rally of Morocco. For this event, both will have new co-drivers.
Ari Vatanen will be accompanied by his compatriot Juha Repo, the former navigator for another Finnish rally legend, Juha Kankkunen.
As for Giniel de Villiers, he will be joined by his usual navigator from the South African Championship, Francois Jordaan.
For both of them, this will represent something new, but a decided advantage for the drivers: to have a navigator who shares the same mother tongue…
For Ari Vatanen, winner of the event in 1997, when he won the World Cup, Dubai will be a sort of "practice run".
Having done some running in Morocco with his new silver and red vehicle, Ari Vatanen was ready to give his first impressions: " I have not driven the Pickup 2004 very much yet, and I have not yet been able to fully appreciate its potential. However, what is certain, is that after the 2003 Dakar, the Nissan team needed to 'get going'. It was necessary to try other options to make even more progress and to try to equal our rivals. We have worked a lot on the aerodynamics, but even if this car has started off well, there is still plenty of work to be done over the forthcoming weeks in order to be ready for January. Dubai is an important step in those preparations."
This will be the first Desert Challenge for Giniel de Villiers, who has never taken part in the event before.
Constantly progressing since the Dakar, he has learnt to tame the dunes and has even claimed a fine win in the Rally of Morocco in June this year. Having been part of the development of the Pickup since the very beginning, in the 2003 and then the 2004 versions, his knowledge of the car will undoubtedly make up for his lack of knowledge of this terrain. Extremely motivated, he knows that the ultimate objective remains Dakar…
A new line…
The Nissan Pickup 2004 has therefore been built on a solid basis, that of the excellent 2003 prototype which reached Sharm-el-Sheikh, the end point of its first Dakar, on January 19th earlier this year, in fifth place in the final overall classification.
This new generation of the Pickup, with its robust silhouette, is, like its predecessor, driven by the competition version of the production VQ 3.5 litre, 6 cylinder engine. The most significant changes are in the bodywork with an impact on styling. The 2004 model has been designed to improve the aerodynamic profile, in order to achieve a higher top speed and better visibility.
Moreover, the significant reduction in the front overhang, the improvement in the protection beneath the bodywork and a more generous clearance should allow the crew to better face the rocky routes and the dunes.
The wheelbase has been shortened by 150 mm, the bodywork had been widened and the internal proportions have been enlarged for the comfort of the crew.
The six-speed sequential gearbox and the front and rear differentials remain the same, despite a slight improvement brought to the torque.
An official Nissan Patrol in the Production category…
Just like during the Spanish Baja, the young rookie Yoshio Ikemachi, along with Thierry Delli Zotti, will take part in the event behind the wheel of a Nissan Patrol in the Production category. For Yoshio, the Desert Challenge will be his first real participation on a true rally raid terrain at the wheel of a car. In Spain, the Baja gave him experience of rocky ground and winding roads. In Dubai, he will face wide open spaces and sand-dunes, where this former motorbike champion will finally be able to savour the joy of crossing the area on four wheels.
Extremely impatient to get to the sand, he will need a lot of delicacy to balance the effort. But two factors will undoubtedly help this likeable Japanese driver: his two-wheeled experience, which gives him a keen sense of the obstacles ahead, and his extremely experienced navigator.
For Yoshio, who is in the middle of his apprenticeship, the serious business will start on January 1st. In the meantime, he is focussed on his main objective: to learn. Very proud to have been chosen by Nissan and to drive in the official Team, he will give his all to reach his goal.
The crews…
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| Ari Vatanen | (FIN) | - | Juha Repo | (FIN) | NISSAN Pickup Superproduction cat. |
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| Giniel de Villiers | (RSA) | - | Francois Jordaan | (RSA) | NISSAN Pickup Superproduction cat. |
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| Yoshio Ikemachi | (JPN) | - | Thierry Delli Zotti | (FRA) | NISSAN Patrol Production cat. |
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