Carlos Sousa takes second place in the Dakar

Starting at home, in front of the cheering crowds, a Carlos Sousa more motivated than ever and a competitive car : plenty of ingredients to bring a smile to the faces of TEAM GALP ENERGIA, after the car set the second-fastest time in today's special stage. A second place claimed by the local hero, proud to have put on a fine show for his fans.

The start of the 28th edition of the Dakar, in the centre of Lisbon, took place among the crowds. A warm and passionate public who had come to applaud their 'national' driver, Carlos Sousa. The Nissan Navara had a hard time leaving the podium platform this morning, due to the number of spectators crowding round.

But Carlos was happy this evening. Happy with his result, and happy to have put on a good show for his frans. Not a cloud on the horizon for this special stage…

" It was a magnificent special stage, and the public was fantastic. I even thought that at times their enthusiasm was pushing the car forwards. It is a very comforting thought to have given pleasure to all those people. I really had a good time today. The Navara worked very well, but I'm sorry that I damaged the paintwork a bit… In a right-handed corner that was far too slippery, we went straight on and hit a fence. Nothing too serious. My aim is to leave Europe in the top three. It would be good for the team's morale, and for the fantastic Portuguese spectators !"

In the Nissan Dessoude clan, the performance of the day came from the Polish driver Krzysztof Holowczyc in the Pickup 03 (apart from Carlos Sousa's results) who finished in 15th position :

"We made a good start, setting the fifteenth time. It was a good idea to cut the tyres for the muddy conditions. We overtook seven cars. There were a few too many spectators, who were not always well-behaved, as often happens in Portuguese rallies… We also had a small problem with the front suspension at the start of the stage. It was much too soft, undoubtedly a small technical problem that we will quickly solve. Miguel Barbosa, in the Nissan X-Trail, finished 24th in the challenging stage, and was the second Portuguese driver behind Carlos Sousa and ahead of many of his compatriots :

"A quiet stage … without falling asleep, or pushing too hard. I am still not totally familiar with the car, and preferred to be careful. Thanks to all those spectators who were encouraging us from the side of the route."


The Mitsuhashi-Dubois team finished this first stage in 18th position.
" Today was mainly a long French lesson from my co-driver Jacky Dubois. We decided that he would give me the instructions in his own language. Luckily, today, the route was marked, so it was not too difficult… However, I did hesitate once or twice, I didn't know exactly where to go, but I didn't lose too much time. The car was perfect, the ground was slippery but I had a good feeling for the car."

Jacky Dubois : "Tomorrow, Jun will have to calm down a bit, because tomorrow's stage in the mountains will be a bit more dangerous. But I have confidence in him. "


Team Zhengzhou
Our two Paladin cars entered by Team Zhengzhou did not have the slightest problems today. Although Xu Lang and Fabian Lurquin finished in 64th position, Zhou Yong and Denis Schurger opted to take care, setting the 112th time .

Marc Blazquez and Nacho Salvador, in their Nissan Pickup finished the first leg in 16th position. A fine performance from the winner of the 2005 Bajas World Cup.
"No problems today, except that the windscreen wiper was not working well on my side. I am satisfied with my sixteenth place, it is a normal result for this sort of stage. I don't think the Dakar really starts until we get into Africa. There were thousands of spectators in the public zones, and sometimes there were so many that they hid the arrows. They were sometimes in rather dangerous areas … but it is very nice to see so many people !"


Nothing to note for Team Tecnosport…
Kenjiro Shinozuka drove very carefully, setting the 26th time. The Japanese driver preferred to take care of his vehicle before arriving in Africa. His team-mates, the two Russian drivers Ivanov and Novitskyi, without forgetting the Lu Ninjung from China, imitated the former Dakar winner and also adopted a reasonable pace. The race will really start in Africa, but the European stages can sometimes be tricky, so prudence is the watchword…

A difficult start, as the Team Nissan Aventure Nissan Pathfinder Production vehicle had a few small worries today : an electrical problem, quickly solved this evening by the Team Dessoude mechanics. After a magnificent start this morning from the heart of Lisbon, the 174 cars entered started an 83 km special stage, that took them to Portimao, a seaside resort on the Atlantic coast. A particularly muddy timed stage, which did not make thing easy for the Team Nissan Aventure crew, who were faced with electrical problems. Nevertheless, Benoît Rousselot is still confident and zen…

The problem has apparently been solved by the service team, and appears to have been due to the humidity.


Tomorrow's stage will be over 100 km long, on a fast and mountainous stage, favouring driving skills. A slight taste of Pikes Peak has been suggested. And then the competitors will head for Malaga, where they will board the ships that will take them to Nador in Morocco.