McRae opts for 'careful' start.

Nissan Rally Raid Team driver Colin McRae made a 'careful' start to the Dakar Rally yesterday [Friday], ending the 6 km Super Special in Barcelona eighth overall, ten seconds behind early leader, Robby Gordon.



McRae, who had been rather impatient and keen to get underway, was determined though not to make a stupid mistake at this early stage.

"I was very careful," he said. "There were a number of tricky jumps, but I think I did what was necessary in order to avoid any problems.

"It would be too silly to make a mistake right at the start of a race like this one.

"We will have fun in Morocco."

His team-mate Giniel de Villiers leads the Nissan's - third overall. He was satisfied with this first stage.

"This special stage seemed like quite a normal beach - with lots of soft sand and a few jumps, where you had to be careful. Everything went well," he stated. "It was short, but it was good to put on a helmet and actually take the start.

"Now we're underway – that is what we have all been waiting for. It was incredible to see so many people alongside the route. For a driver, it is great to be watched by such enthusiastic crowds."



Ari Vatanen meanwhile was seventh, in the third Nissan Pick-up, two seconds quicker than McRae. He also seemed satisfied.

"As it turned out, the stage was not too bad," he added. "We were rather worried that there would be some really tricky sections, but it turned out to be ok. The bumps were a bit 'strange', but we got through with no problems.

"I took care. I definitely preferred it to last year's prologue. The sand was quite soft, but you could easily go through in third or fourth gear. The Pickup was really nice to drive."

Today [Saturday] competitors leave Barcelona to head for Grenada, with over 900 km of liaison on the schedule. A very long day...

Article from: Crash.Net

Masuoka second for Mitsubishi, as Dakar starts.

The Mitsubishi Motors Repsol ATS Studios Team kick-started its challenge for a record-breaking 10th Dakar Rally success by finishing second, fifth and ninth in the overall standings through the opening six-kilometre special stage on the beach at Castelldefels, west of Barcelona, yesterday [Friday].



At the wheel of the first of three Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution MPR11s, Japan's Hiroshi Masuoka and German co-driver Andreas Schulz completed the section a mere 2.7 seconds behind the early overall leaders Robby Gordon and Dirk von Zitzewitz.

"These stages are always great for the sponsors and the spectators, but not really that important for us unless you have a problem," said Masuoka.

"My plan is to push harder when we reach the Marathon stage in Mauritania."

Mitsubishi Motors team-mates Luc Alphand and Gilles Picard were fifth and the French duo of Stephane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret were ninth overall.

"It is great for me to be part of such a large professional team," said Alphand. "Now I must repay the team's faith in me with the best performance I can over the next two weeks."

For the first time in the history of the Dakar Rally, the times from the Prologue stage will not only determine starting order for the second leg, but they will also count towards the overall classification.

A massive New Year's Eve crowd gathered in warm winter sunshine to give the 26th Dakar Rally a festive send-off at the Costa Brava beach village of Castelldefels. Bikes kick-started the action in reverse order, before the leading cars were permitted to start the sandy stage at two-minute intervals.

"I think it is completely different to start the race in Spain," said Peterhansel. "The organisation has been perfect here and, of course, we have been lucky with the weather. For me the race starts between Rabat and Agadir in Morocco. My tactic is to stay in contact with the leaders until the first Marathon stage in Mauritania."

Spanish team-mate Joan Roma won the event last year on a motorcycle and has been staggered by the response the Spanish public have given him since he joined the Mitsubishi team. He finished the opening stage in 23rd position.

"Everywhere I go there have been well-wishers," he said. "The crowd today has been fabulous. It is like a dream for me to start the race in Catalunya."

Today [Saturday] the route for the Dakar Rally is made up entirely of a 919 kms road liaison section between Barcelona and Granada, where teams will spend the first evening of 2005.

Article from: Crash.Net

Stage three results

Cars
1 Colin McRae (GB) Nissan 7 hours and 48 minutes
2 Stephane Peterhansel (Bel) Mitsubishi 7:54
3 Ari Vatanen (Fin) Nissan 7:58
4 Giniel De Villiers (SA) Nissan 8:01
5 Robby Gordon (US) Volkswagen 8:03
6 Luc Alphand (Fr) Mitsubishi 8:03
7 Bruno Saby (Fr) Volkswagen 8:04
8 Hiroshi Masuoka (Jpn) Mitsubishi 8:09
9 Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah (Qat) BMW 8:14
10 Jutta Kleinschmidt (Ger) Volkswagen 8:15

Overall
1 McRae 12:22
2 Gordon 12:23
3 De Villiers 12:24
4 Peterhansel 12:29
4 Saby 12:29

Motorcycles
1 David Fretigne (Fr) Yamaha 7 hours and 57 minutes
2 Alfie Cox (SA) KTM 7:59
3 Cyril Despres (Fr) KTM 8:00
4 Jordi Duran (Sp) KTM 8:06
5 Marc Coma (Sp) KTM 8:07
6 Andy Caldecott (Aus) KTM 8:08
7 Carlo De Gavardo (Chi) KTM 8:11
8 Celso Gorrara (Swi) KTM 8:16
9 Kellon Walch (US) KTM 8:17
9 Fabrizio Meoni (It) KTM 8:17

Overall
1 Fretigne 12:08
2 Despres 12:19
3 Walch 12:55
4 Meoni 12:58
5 Eric Verhoeff (Neth) KTM 12:59

Apparently he had a heart attack as the result of an accident...

A quarter of a century after becoming the first German manufacturer to win the Dakar Rally, Volkswagen has written a further page in the history of the world’s toughest rally with one of its Race-Touaregs claiming the event’s first podium finish by a diesel-powered car.

German driver Jutta Kleinschmidt and her Italian co-driver Fabrizia Pons crossed the finish line in the Senegalese capital in third place overall after 9000 km of African desert hardship. A sister Race-Touareg driven by Bruno Saby took fifth place, and a third Volkswagen, driven by American Robby Gordon, was 12th.

Kleinschmidt was delighted with her result: ‘It’s a very special podium place for me,’ said Jutta. ‘I think that Volkswagen really deserved this success; we made a good impression and had good results from the beginning. First Robby led, then Bruno, then Fabrizia and I finished on the podium. A podium finish was our goal and it’s absolutely fantastic that it all worked out.’

Kleinschmidt’s progress to the podium was the result of hard work and some strong stage performances. She moved into third on January 5 and consolidated her position with a stage victory on the 11th of the 16 legs and two further top-three stage finishes. Gordon was the sensation of the early legs, setting fastest time on the first and fourth stages before losing several hours through a roll. His fight back from 101st place to 12th was one of the highlights of the 2005 Dakar.

Frenchman Saby also took his turn at the head of the field, taking over the lead on the sixth stage from Smara to Zouerat in Mauritania before suffering technical problems the next day after a hard landing from a dune jump. He and his co-driver Michel Perin fought hard to regain the top five. Today they claimed the honour of victory on the final stage, taking Volkswagen’s fourth stage win.

‘The Dakar Rally was a huge success for Volkswagen,’ said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. ‘All team members worked extremely well and we made a huge step forward on the engineering side. We will work very hard over the next 11 months to make the next step…’

First triumph for Despres, Peter doubles

On an edition deeply touched by the tragic deaths of Fabrizio Meoni and José Manuel Perez, the Telefonica Dakar 2005 crowned Frenchman Cyril Despres (KTM) in the bike race. On four wheels, Stephane Peterhansel (MIT) conquered his second consecutive victory while the truck race win remained in the hands of the Kamaz team but it was Firdaus Kabirov's turn to clinch the overall win.

It was a question of honour. At the start of the race in Barcelona, the KTM-Gauloises team promised they would place one of their 'blue bikes' on the highest step of the podium of the 27th Dakar, in memory of Richard Sainct three-time winner of the event who had tragically died three months earlier during the 'Pharaoh rally' in Egypt. On the Dakar, Cyril Despres and his mates were once again hit by the terrible death of Fabrizio Meoni during stage 11. Devastated, the KTM official riders had a new reason to carry on, despite the pain, "because that's what he would have wanted!"

In memory of Fabrizio and Richard, Despres won his first Dakar after having climbed on both the second (in 2003) and third steps (in 2004) of the podium. The Frenchman had started building his victory well before the tragedy that rocked the whole rally. On the eve of the crash, during the Atar-Atar special, Despres took command of the rally thanks to a 10' lead on Meoni who was to finish his last stage. Before that, the 31-year old rider based his race on regularity, making it nice and easily in the Top 5 of every single stage before entering Mauritania, his favourite playground. Once in the overall lead, Despres after his Atar masterpiece never let go of his advantage and controlled is closest rivals from then on. The only danger came from Marc Coma who had closed the gap on the leader to 3'16 because of a time penalty given to Despres for speeding. Not a problem for the talented Frenchman who left his main rival way behind on the penultimate stage to Dakar, clinching at the same time his second special success.

This 27th edition was a good opportunity to discover the talents that will certainly dominate the upcoming years alongside Cyril Despres. David Frétigné, 5th overall and the only biker to have won three specials this year (added to two second spots), will certainly be among those that will be the main actors of the Dakar in the upcoming years. Slightly older but just as talented, Australian Andy Caldecott (2 stage wins), as well as Spaniards Coma and Esteve, who are part of the 'Nani Roma generation' will certainly also be of those fighting for glory in the deserts of Africa. The 'First time' standings crowned two very impressive youngsters. Indeed, Americans Chris Blais (9th overall, and twice 3rd on specials) and Kellon Walch (22nd and winner of the last stage around the Lac Rose), from the KTM – Redbull team easily captured the first two spots, while David Casteu (13th overall) clinched the 'Marathon' class win. For her first experience on the Dakar, 21-year-old Ludivine Puy, was the better placed of the two remaining bikers in the women's standings.

Maybe his prestigious past as a biker made Stephane Peterhansel use the exact same strategy then Cyril Despres'. The only difference was that the titleholder started his real road to victory just before Mauritania. Chapter one happened on the stage between Smara-Zouerat, where he captured the overall command after grabbing the stage. Chapter two was for the following day on the now legendary Zouerat to Tichit stage where with his team mate Luc Alphand, 'Peter' hit even harder leaving his closest contender, Jutta Kleinschmidt, 40' adrift before the rest day.

If Mitsubishi made the difference there, the battle among the Japanese brand carried on until they left Mauritania with Luc Alphand challenging his compatriot and proving that he should be one to watch for a possible future victory. To ensure a 'Mitsu' win, they then took it steadily until the finish line, especially after the mechanical problems that shook Masuoka (who quit with a broken engine) and Mayer (who quit with electric problems).

Black Africa was therefore a good occasion for the others to fight it out for special wins, exactly like they had done during the European and Moroccan stages. American Robby Gordon, for his first Dakar, and Scotsman Colin McRae had shared the wins on the fast specials before Mauritania. The Volkswagen-Nissan duel had therefore stopped on a 2-2 draw! It then went Nissan's way thanks to Giniel De Villiers (twice) and Ari Vatanen's impressive stage from Kayes to Tambacounda. With Jutta Kleinschmidt's win in Kiffa and Bruno Saby's final success on the shores of the Lac Rose, the score ended 5-4… to Nissan, with Jutta Kleinschmidt however managing to keep her very important third spot on the podium.

In the T1 class that saw favourites Isabelle Patissier and Jean-Pierre Strugo quit the race early, Japan's Asaga (18th overall) topped the standings with a diesel vehicle, beating Pascal Thomasse in his normal fuel car (39th overall). The 'first time' standing was won by China's Yang Zhou, 10th overall.

Finally, the truck race rapidly lost its four-time Dakar winner Vladimir Tchaguine who was leading the race when he ran out of fuel during the Zouerat-Tichit stage forcing him to forget about his title ambitions. One of his closest rivals witnessed the same problem but still proved that he was a promising prospect, winning three consecutive stages. The rally however remained in the hands of the Kamaz team and it was Firdaus Kabirov's turn to conquer top spot. The Russian team continues its victorious run, equalling Tatra's record of 6 wins.