Grégoire de Mevius and Jacky Dubois had their fair share of problems today. Despite everything, the Pickup, which was leading yesterday, finished today in second position in the overall classification, around 9minutes behind Hiroshi Masuoka, the new leader. Completely recovered from yesterday's problems, the Patissier-Irissou line-up completed today's special stage in 13th position.
The "survivors" of this edition of the UAE Desert Challenge set off once more under sweltering heat for the third leg, which took place around Moreeb. Like yesterday, the start was slightly delayed due to the morning fog, which covered the track and, more importantly, prevented the safety helicopter from taking off.
This third special stage started off 'with a bump' for Grégoire de Mevius, the rally leader, as at km 80, he went down a ledge rather too fast, causing the Pickup to land violently on the nose, and dive into a pile of sandc the team had to fight for nearly ten minutes to free the Nissan.
Grégoire de Mevius gave his account of this misadventure : "We landed quite hard, so hard that it took my breath away. I hung on to the steering wheel, and most probably to the gear level to try and soften the landing. After getting out of the sand, which held us prisoner for nearly ten minutes, we kept a close eye on the temperature, which was beginning to rise. Not wishing to take any risks, I lifted off the accelerator. But after 200 km, the gear stick quite literally broke off when I was in 5th gear...It took us a few more minutes to try and sort it out, but at one point I really began to wonder if we could get to the finish line. I was changing gear with my fingertips, but at times Jacky had to help me, it was so difficult. But we got to the end, and we were able to limit the damage. The final score could have been a lot worse. Masuoka is ahead of us, with a lead of 9 minutes. I think we coped quite well... without all those problems, and according to our calculations, we would have been able to take around 7 minutes from the Mitsubishi. "
Jacky Dubois also had quite a scare : "The final ten kilometres were really very difficult. The dunes were very high and I thought we would never get to the end. I am quite relieved to be at the bivouac..."
Isabelle Patissier and Bernard Irissou also got back to the bivouac, and this time without any problems, setting the 13th fastest time: "When neither Bernard nor I are ill ...everything goes well ! We did not get lost, and only got stuck very briefly in some small dips. We focussed mainly on the temperature. We kept a very close eye on it, as it is really very, very hot. But the Pathfinder was, as always, perfect. We slightly damaged its nose in some rather violent descents, going through the dunes, but with no serious consequences. To return to yesterday's episode and Bernard's illness, it is true that I was very scared. But he recovered very quickly, and feels fine today. This event is physically very demanding. Even after preparing well, the body is subjected to such high temperatures that it is really tested. Today, we stopped at the service area, not because of any problems with the car, but quite simply to get more water. We have learned our lesson..."
According to André Dessoude, the race is far from over: " It is a great shame that Grégoire had those problems today, and also ashame for Colin McRae yesterday, as he was having a good race. But globally the report is position, no matter what the final result might be. The Pickup has shown that it can 'play' with the Mitsubishi cars, and finish ahead of the BMW or VW vehicles. That is very encouraging for what lies ahead. After Grégoire's win in Turkey, it was said that it was more of a World Rally Championship event than a rally raid, that for Grégoire, coming from rallying, had found things easy, and that the terrain suited the Pickup. Today, man and machine have both proven that they can be competitive in real rally raid conditions. Both Colin McRae and Grégoire made the same comments: the car is very good over the dunes. We have made progress, and I am very pleased with these last two days. Now we will see for tomorrow..."
Tomorrow, the final special stage will take place during the third loop around Moreeb, (Friday's leg between Moreeb and Dubai having been cancelled). The start of Ramadam, the Muslim religious festival which means that everyone fasts between sunrise and sunset, will start on Friday. As many Muslims are taking part in the event, out of respect and for safety reasons, the organisers opted to change the last leg a liaison section. The final podium will still take place on Friday, at 16:30, in the Dubai Marina. At the end of tomorrow's stage, the name of the winner of the UAE Desert Challenge should be clear...
