Copyright © NISSAN France Dessoude

With today’s T2 category win in the 9th Rally of the Pharaohs, Team Nissan Aventure now heads for the world title, after a perfect season out of four races, the team crossed the finish line as the winner on all four occasions. A well-deserved fourth crown for the Japanese manufacturer and its incredible Pathfinder…
This final special stage, between Baharija and Cairo, has its fair share of surprises in store. Almost all the competitors missed their way, further an unclear note, but Arnaud Debron, an �eold desert fox’, did not fall into the trap, which allowed the crew to finish this Rally of the Pharaohs with a lead of over 1 hour and 22 minutes in the T2 category, maintaining a magnificent fifth place overall. But victory in T2 was not the main goal this time : they were aiming for the world title. This has now been almost achieved, and the Lavieille-Debron duo has allowed Nissan to claim the world title for the fourth time with Team Dessoude.

«I was a bit worried this morning when we started. Gearbox problems could have put everything in question, but it’s a case of �emission accomplished’. We have almost achieved the goal we set ourselves at the start of the season. I would like to thank Nissan for this four-race program, but also André Dessoude, as it was him who chose me at the start of the season to take part, without forgetting the whole team, who all supported me. It’s thanks to them that I’m here today. We put in a faultless performance on the sporting front : four races, four wins and being extremely close to a title. Moreover, this evening, we have handed back a vehicle that is almost intact. We have never had any major mechanical problems, and we’ve never had any sort of collisions. I would really like to thank Arnaud who has done a remarkable job this season. Not even the slightest navigational problems, and daily good humour in the cockpit. We had a good team, and we formed a good crew. It’s a shame we have to separate as we get on really well together.. (Arnaud should be joining Team Schlesser for the next Dakar).

	Copyright © NISSAN France Dessoude

These are the main things I will remember from this season, in brief : T2 is the school of wisdom… This category, with vehicles so close to the Production models, allows you to learn to read and analyse the terrain. To be fast, you have to be vigilant and to anticipate. It is not always easy, psychologically, to manage the situation when you’re a fighter, but it is a strategy that pays off. You have to know when to hold back in order to ensure you get the result. For my driving, this experience has been very beneficial. The Nissan Pathfinder is an excellent car for this category. After Tunisia, we put in some excellent suspension settings, which made the task easier for the rest of the season.

Now that the initial objective has been reached, I really want to move up a gear, to the T1 category. The next stage will be the Dakar, and I’m working on that with André. I am impatient to try a more competitive car, without forgetting all the lessons I learned in T2, as the Dakar also needs to be managed ! My experience on the 2006 edition with a Nissan Patrol allowed be to apply this philosophy, to find the limits of the vehicle. I would like to do a good Dakar 2007 and a full season in T1 with the aim of winning the overall title…»

Copyright © NISSAN France Dessoude

This is the second time that Arnaud Debron has won the title in the Production category. He already led the world classification in 1999 alongside Luc Alphand…
«I am very happy with this heading for new T2 title, but I would really like to win in T1 otherwise I’m going to end up in the Truck category ! This season with Christian has been really fun. We finished in the top ten overall in each race ! As Christian said, T2 is a matter of race management, and with him, management is never a problem. He calms things down himself, and has all the intelligence of an endurance driver. It was a very agreeable season, very instructive. Overall, in four races, we didn’t have a single puncture, we didn’t get stuck in the sand, we didn’t get lost our only problem here was with the gearbox. But we achieved our aim, and that is the most important thing for the team.»

André Dessoude, boss of the team and is particularly happy with his crew's performance said «This rally was very difficult for us. We did not say much during the event, but we had been suffering with gearbox problems since the start. As we are in Production, any intervention is strictly forbidden. And there, Christian was perfect. He drove exactly as he should in order to manage this problem. The state of the gearbox grew worse day by day, but the car has reached the end, first in its category. There is one point I would like to emphasise : Christian's state of mind. He never lost his temper as many drivers do when faced with such a problem. This T2 title will be the fourth for Team Nissan Aventure, but it is particularly sweet. »

Another leg of the Rally of the Pharaohs for Yvan Muller who, like yesterday, set the second-fastest time in today's stage. This marked the end of Team Dessoude's Egyptian test session, as Yvan will have to head back to Spain tomorrow, for the next round of the FIA WTCC with the Oreca team. However, the last two days have been a valuable learning experience for both Team Dessoude and its latest recruit…

Next round : Lisbon, for the start of the Dakar, which will take place from the 6th to the 21st of January 2007.

*	Any World Champion or International Cup winner which is approved by the FIA will be officially certified at the FIA prize giving ceremony held in December. Any driver or title will be recognized as provisional until that time.