The stage between Sitra Road and Siwa was particularly good for Team Nissan France Dessoude. Isabelle Patissier set the second-fastest time in the stage, behind Stéphane Henrard, while Benoît Rousselot was fourth, first of the T2 cars, with the best performance of the day. Overall, Isabelle climbed up three places and moved into the Top 10.

Today, the Rally of the Pharaohs has reached the charming Siwa oasis. During the stage, the difficulties faced by the drivers were only overtaken by the beauty of the scenery. Over the first 260 kilometres, there was nothing but sand. Broken dunes and sections of extremely soft sand punctuated the first hours of racing. Then followed 80 km of rough track, finishing on a partly asphalted road. Breathtaking views, with sand and canyons in indescribable colours of ochre.

Isabelle Patissier and Thierry Delli Zotti really enjoyed their day in the deep Sahara, setting a fine 2nd time overall. They also climbed three places in the overall classification, and are now tenth.
“The stage was really very beautiful. As well as the wonderful scenery, there were some magnificent passages through the dunes, very nice to drive. It’s very rare to be able to enjoy surfing on the sand like that. At the very start of the stage, the route went through some big groups of dunes; it was very fast, and flowed perfectly. The trail was then very rough, but a lot less disagreeable than yesterday – it was quite technical, and felt good. We had the right tyre pressure at the start, and we didn’t change it at all throughout the day. No problems with the car. A fine day, and a good result !”

Thierry Delli Zotti also enjoyed the stage, but was cautious as to the pace that they should follow.
«We were driving with something held in reserve, as a number of potential dangers are not marked. On broken dunes, a bad landing can easily result in a roll. Isabelle set a good pace today, and appeared to enjoy herself. That’s the main thing.»

As far as the T2 cars were concerned, the leader, Serguey Sukhovenko’s day nearly ended in disaster, on a broken dune. The Russian took off, and his Nissan Pathfinder landed on its nose, remaining perfectly balanced for three seconds, before falling back down... on its wheels. The Russian team are still leading the T2 category.

As for Benoît Rousselot, today was a good day... the driver from Nancy set the fastest time in his category, as well as making up the most places, setting the fourth-best time overall...
«We started 31st, after our misadventures yesterday. We had to overtake quite a number of competitors, and we caught up with Ronan Chabot after 150 km. We kept up a steady pace, but very calm, with no stress and most importantly without taking any risks. The stage was good, with lots of changes of terrain. The most difficult thing is to adapt your pace to these changes of configuration. The vehicle was perfect. Physically, I have recovered well from yesterday’s long day. And the morale is good... Despite our penalties from the previous stage (a fixed penalty for having exceeded the set time), nothing is over. We have lost places overall, but there are still points to be scored towards the World Cup, and the rally is far from over.”

Tomorrow, the competitors will leave Siwa, heading for Sitra Road, with a 400 km stage which is said to be even more difficult, even without the ever-present heat...