A fine finish for Isabelle Patissier and Thierry Delli Zotti in the Rally of the Pharaohs, finishing in sixth place overall. A good performance over this difficult and trying route. A final position which has brought some consolation to Team Nissan France Dessoude. The nr 204 Nissan Pathfinder reached the Egyptian capital city without problems, having finished today’s stage in eighth place overall.

The special stage between Baharija and Cairo was reduced by around thirty kilometres, due to oil drilling which made the rally route too dangerous. For safety reasons, the organisers preferred to bring the event to a halt a few kilometres beforehand.

This sixth and final stage was won by a Nissan Pathfinder, driven by Russian Andrey Ivanov ahead of Stéphane Henrard and the two Nissan Pickup vehicles of Hungarian Laszlo Palik and Sandor Kis, and the Nissan Pathfinder of Frenchman Serge Jordan (who finished the stage with two-wheel drive). Isabelle Patissier set the eighth-fastest time, preferring to make a cautious end to her race.

Overall, the Belgian driver Stéphane Henrard (VW Tarek) won the rally, ahead of Laszlo Palik (Nissan Pickup), Andrey Ivanov (Nissan Pathfinder) and Serge Jordan (Nissan Pathfinder). No fewer than six Nissan vehicles were in the top nine.

Finishing sixth overall, this was Isabelle’s best finish since moving up to the T1 category at the start of this season, claiming another three points towards the World Cup (she had already scored two points in the Rally of the Orient in July).

«We had a good rally, and I am very pleased with the result. It’s a shame about our little problems at the start of the event, but that’s racing, and we have to accept it. This rally was very interesting, as the route was extremely varied. It was a real mix of all the sorts of terrain you encounter in rally raid competitions: dunes, rough ground, fast sections… It was a real delight, even if it was sometimes spoiled by the inaccuracies of the road book. The overall report is very positive for us. Thierry and I had never driven in Egypt before, and for a first, it’s not so bad…”

In the Production (T2) category, after the retirement of the two Team Dessoude Nissan Pathfinders, Ronan Chabot (Toyota) was named the winner of the World Cup for the T2 category, having finished first in T2 today. The final event will take place in Dubai next month. Benoît Rousselot and Serguey Sukhovenko are still joint second, with 18 points. They could finish the season in these places, but neither is planning to compete in the Desert Challenge.

However, the Nissan Pathfinder has proved its superiority on the trails throughout the season. Benoît Rousselot’s only regret is that he did not take part in the Rally of Argentina at the start of the season. It could have made all the difference...

With no plans to take part in the UAE Desert Challenge, the next big event for Team Dessoude will therefore be the Dakar, at the end of the year.