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Kenjiro Shinozuka saves his second overall place,
while Isabelle Patissier has a black day...
RALLY OPTIC 2000 TUNISIA 2004 Rally Report
LEG 5: Saturday April 10th - EL BORMA / RASS EL OUED
Liaison 47 Km - Special Stage 274 Km - Liaison 1 Km - Total 322 Km
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One day follows another ... but you never know what to expect ... Team Nissan France Dessoude had a difficult day, but managed to save the situation at the front. Kenjiro Shinozuka retained his second place in the overall classification, despite a navigation error which lost him around ten minutes. Isabelle Patissier had quite a fright, losing time due to a water leak; she has lost time but remains in the lead of the T1 category. Today s big loser was Paul Belmondo. With a broken engine after 100 km, he was forced to retire. However, the performance of the day was that of François Cros, who, behind the wheel of his Pathfinder, set the 10th fastest time.
This fifth stage was the second so-called 'navigation' stage. With a sandy section early on, followed by rough terrain. Up until Larich, the track was littered with sand banks, which were not always easy to cross, before becoming faster up to the old fort of Garet Saber. Having picked up the pipeline trail, heading north, most particularly towards the Jneïn fort, then the Borj Bourguiba fort. After that, the track grew rougher, quite possibly the roughest section of the whole rally. Due to the numerous ruts, which had appeared after the heavy rains which fell on the south of Tunisia during the winter, it was necessary to go carefully in order not to make any mistakes. After this difficult section, the competitors continued along the plateaux up to the Rass El Oued bivouac.
Kenjiro Shinozuka retained his position despite a navigation error which lost him around ten minutes. Slightly disappointed at having lost time, he admitted that he had, despite everything, 'enjoyed himself' : «The second part of the special stage suited me perfected. Little trails, winding and narrow ... I was able to take advantage of it. I am delighted with the way the car behaved, I did not have to worry about anything. The Pickup went through everything in the best possible condition. I am a bit disappointed that we lost time, I think we could have set an excellent time today. Despite everything, we are still second, and we have a lead of around twelve minutes over Magnaldi..»
Pascal Maimon was also disappointed : « Just before CP1, we went too far to the right; other competitors made the same mistake. By the time we realised our mistake, we had lost ten minutes. It s tiresome, but we have to hang on for another two days..."
Isabelle Patissier had a day full of ups and downs : " A bad day! Over a seven-day race, you have to have one bad day ... I hope this will the only one ! We started off well, very conscious that we were fighting to retain our position, but after 100 km, the car started to overheat. We stopped at the service area, and noticed that a water pipe had a hole. We took plenty of cooling liquid with us, and left again, rather worried. Every 60 km, we had to stop to top up the water. And then, at around 100 km from the end of the stage ... no more brakes. And then we had a big scare two kilometres for from the end. In a tight right-hander, I came in too fast and without brakes, it was nearly a catastrophe. The car started to tip, and went up on two wheels. That was a big moment. We will be very careful for the last two days; no-one can be sure they will not have problems.".
However, Paul Belmondo has been forced to give up, and the rally ends here for him. After 80 km, the engine started to show signs of weakness, before finally stopping. The assistance truck towed the X-Trail out of this bad situation. Paul is obviously disappointed, but is still optimistic : "A shame, but I will do better in Morocco !"
The best surprise of the day came from François Cros and Fabrice Vachard with their Nissan Pathfinder. It was known that François Cros was a good driver, and he further proved it today. François is one of the Team Dessoude 'clients'; this is his 4th Rally Raid, and he is taking things relatively calmly. It should be remembered that he finished 6th in the 2002 Rally of Tunisia. Along with Fabrice Vachard, they put in an excellent performance today and set the 10th fastest time. Their aim for this rally : to enjoy themselves. After a difficult start to the race, when they twice lost a wheel during the same stage, they seem to be in a good mood once more : "Our morale is getting better and better... we started off a long way down, and things can only get better. Fabrice did not make any navigation mistakes today. Or rather, yes, one small mistake, that he corrected within three seconds... I enjoyed myself today, it was a really great stage for drivers ..."
Tomorrow sees the third and final loop of this Optic 2000 Rally of Tunisia. This sixth stage will also be the final special stage without GPS reference points. Nearly 314 difficult kilometres for men and machine alike... |
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RESULTS
Overall Classification after SS 5: EL BORMA/RASS EL OUED
Saturday April 10th 2004
[ Liaison 47 Km - Special Stage 274 Km - Liaison 1 Km - Total 322 Km ] |
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| Pos. |
Dos. |
PILOT / CO PILOT |
Make |
Time/Gap |
| 1 |
200 |
PETERHANSEL-COTTRET |
MITSUBISHI |
14h24'08" |
| 2 |
202 |
SHINOZUKA-MAIMON |
NISSAN |
+00h59'53" |
| 3 |
215 |
MAGNALDI-BORSOTTO |
HONDA |
+01h12'14" |
| 4 |
218 |
HENRARD-LOW |
VOLKSWAGEN |
+01h16'18" |
| 5 |
203 |
ALMUTAIWEI-GUEHENNEC |
BMW |
+01h18'29" |
| 6 |
229 |
LANSAC-JACQUEMARD |
PRO-TRUCK |
+02h06'51" |
| 7 |
207 |
MONTERDE-TORNABEL |
MITSUBISHI |
+02h10'32" |
| 8 |
205 |
KOMORNICKI-MARTON |
MITSUBISHI |
+02h26'47" |
| 9 |
216 |
HOUSIEAUX-LURQUIN |
MITSUBISHI |
+02h26'56" |
| 10 |
221 |
PATISSIER-IRISSOU |
NISSAN |
+02h48'14" |
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| the time for 2nd and below are the gap from the 1st |
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