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Showing posts with label Luc Alphand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Luc Alphand. Show all posts
Monday, January 19, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
Dakar 2009: Stage 6 - San Rafael - Mendoza: Mitsubishi challenge down to two Lancer.
The sixth stage of the 2009 Dakar Rally between San Rafael and Mendoza marked a day that Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart would rather forget, after team co-driver Gilles Picard (France) was taken ill on the special stage and forced the immediate retirement of his driver Luc Alphand (France) from the race.
Team mates Stephane Peterhansel (France) and Joan 'Nani' Roma (Spain) finished the stage with the fifth and sixth fastest times, but now hold sixth and fifth in the overall standings and face an uphill struggle to regain the lost time over the coming days.
Today's special stage was originally shortened from 394km to 232km and then to 178km because of the risk of standing water caused by recent rainfall. Event officials sent a route vehicle into the stage on Wednesday to monitor a river crossing which was already 80cm high and the decision was taken to skip the section on safety grounds.
Mitsubishi's mechanics finally completed the work on Peterhansel's and Jean-Paul Cottret's (France) 'Racing Lancer' just before the pair were scheduled to leave the bivouac and head into the liaison section to the sixth stage to Mendoza.
Peterhansel had incurred a 15-minute penalty in San Rafael on Wednesday evening for missing a time control. He eventually set the fifth fastest time.
Luc Alphand (France) was forced to withdraw from the Dakar Rally 12km after the start of the stage this morning, when co-driver Gilles Picard (France) was taken ill assisting Alphand in putting plates under a wheel when they were stuck in the mud. As a precaution he was airlifted to the bivouac in San Rafa?l for medical checks, but Alphand was unable to continue. Picard then underwent an electro-cardiogram test and everything was normal.
Joan 'Nani' Roma and Lucas Cruz Senra (Spain) held sixth position through the opening passage control and maintained his position to the finish. (Marathonrally.com)
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Sainz takes Dakar lead on day two
| By Matt Beer | Sunday, January 4th 2009, 14:48 GMT |
Opening day leader Nassar Al-Attiyah (X-Raid BMW) had remained ahead through the first checkpoint in the Santa Rosa to Puerto Madryn stage, only to lose six minutes when he went off course in a particularly sandy section and struggled to find the stage route again - eventually having to double back to ensure he crossed the second checkpoint.
Sainz, who had already been slightly faster than Al-Attiyah in the first part of the stage, proceeded to take the fastest time and move into the overall lead, although he also had difficulty in the sand.
"It was very difficult with the dust and the motorbikes," said Sainz. "There were places where you basically had to stop. In one of these places I found a motorbike, and I hope it's okay."
The former World Rally champion now has a 2:19 lead over his VW teammate Giniel de Villiers in second place. Like Al-Attiyah, the South Africa had trouble staying on the rally route in the deep sand.
"The beginning was very fast, but in the middle there was an off piste section where it was not so easy with the navigation," said de Villiers.
"We lost about a minute or two but it was not too bad. Towards the end it was very, very dusty. We tried to be safe and not get stuck in anything."
Defending winner Stephane Peterhansel has now moved up to third for Mitsubishi, ahead of the delayed Al-Attiyah, after taking the second-fastest time in today's stage. (Autosport.com)
Monday, December 29, 2008
Mitsubishi aims for eight Dakars in a row
GIVING JAPANESE FANS SOMETHING TO CHEER ABOUT
READY FOR ANYTHING: A "formal" team portrait of the works Mitsubishi entries for the 2009 'Dakar' rally.
December 29, 2008
Mitsubishi aims to lift the recent gloom which has enveloped Japan's motorsport industry by winning an eighth consecutive "Dakar" rally in January 2009.
The gruelling two-week race will start on January 3 in the relative stability of Argentina and Chile rather than in north Africa after the 2008 Dakar was cancelled because of security fears after the murders of four French tourists in Mauritania.
It was the first cancellation in the 30-year history of the race.
Mitsubishi won the previous seven Dakar rallies; French driver Stephane Peterhansel won in 2004, 2005 and 2007 with compatriot and former skiing ace Luc Alphand taking the 2006 titleDrivers and navigators underwent tough, physical fitness tests.
Japan's Hiroshi Masuoka won in 2002 and 2003 and will return for the 2009 race Spain's Joan Roma, a former winner in the motorcycle category, making up Mitsubishi's four-car assault.
All four drivers and their navigators underwent a series of tough, physical fitness tests in France before flying out to Buenos Aires where the race will start on January 3.
Masuoka said: "We have a new place for the 'Dakar', a new world, with a new engine and a new car. This will be my 21st Dakar Rally and I'll be hoping for my third win.
CHALLENGE FROM VW
There will be added interest in Mitsubishi's campaign in South America after the global financial crisis dealt a series of body blows to motorsport in Japan with Honda quitting Formula 1 and Subaru and Suzuki pulling out of the World Rally championship.
Mitsubishi's main challenge will come from Volkswagen whose four-car bid will be led by former World rally champion Carlos Sainz, who's no stranger to South America – he won the Rally of Argentina in 1992, 2002 and 2004.
South Africa's Giniel de Villiers, Germany's Dieter Depping and Mark Miller of the United States make up the VW team. – AFP
Mitsubishi Racing LANCER
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