Monday, January 3, 2011
Monday, January 19, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Dakar 2009 - Stage 7 - Mendoza - Valparaiso
Summary of stage 7 - Cars
Pending validation of the
results by the race stewards, Spaniard Carlos Sainz (VW) has won the 7th stage, picking up his 3rd stage victory of this 31st Dakar, 3.41 ahead of his American team-mate Mark
Miller (VW) and 4.13 in front of American Robby Gordon and his Hummer. As a result, in the general standings "El Matador" Sainz has taken
the lead, 9 short seconds ahead of his South African team-mate Giniel De Villiers and 13.53 in front of the Race Touareg belonging to Miller, putting the 3 Volkswagens in the first 3
places! Worthy of note, the 9 times winner of the event Stéphane
Peterhansel again suffered problems today. After a fire in the engine of his Mitsubishi Racing Lancer, the Frenchman has now lost
all chance of grabbing a 10th victory on his 20th Dakar. In the Open category, Robby Gordon (Hummer) was again victorious and is the
undisputed category leader in the general standings. Finally, in the Production category, Japanese driver Jun Mitsuhashi (Toyota) won the
stage, but still only managed to claw back 10.20 on Frenchman Nicolas Gibon (Toyota) who retains a solid lead in the category in the general standings.
Summary of stage 7 - Bikes
Pending validation of the results by the race stewards, Chilean Francisco Lopez (KTM) has won the 7th stage, picking up his 1st success on the Dakar, 3.57 ahead of the leader of the general standings, Spaniard Marc Coma (KTM) and 5.21 in front of France’s Cyril Despres (KTM). As a result, in the general standings Spaniard Marc Coma (KTM) carries on opening up a gap at the top of the rankings, with a 51.22 lead over American Jonah Street (KTM), still leader in the marathon category, and a 52.31 lead over Frenchman David Frétigné (Yamaha), leader of the 450cc category.
Summary of stage 7 - Quads
Pending validation of the results by the race stewards, Argentine Marcos Patronelli (Can Am) has won the 7th stage, picking up his 1st success on the Dakar, 14.01 ahead of Uruguayan Luis Henderson (Suzuki) and 20.22 in front of Poland’s Rafal Sonik (Yamaha). As a result, in the general standings Czech rider Josef Machacek (Yamaha) is way out in the lead, 2:27.32 ahead of Patronelli and 2:38.27 in front of Polish rider Sonik.
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)
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Dakar 2009: Double victory for VW, de Villiers now second.
Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA) likewise have reason to be pleased, having managed to supplant Mitsubishi driver Nani Roma to take fifth place in the overall rankings following their good performance on today´s turbulent 506-kilometre-long special stage from Neuquén to San Rafael in Argentina.
Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (E/F) have suffered a setback: after leading the rally for three days, they finished today´s leg 15.42 minutes behind the day´s winners and have therefore dropped two places in the overall rankings, to third. They now trail the front runners by 6.33 minutes. (Marathonrally.com)
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Dakar 2009 - Stage 4 - Jacobacci - Neuquen: Coma, Sainz and De Rooy strike again.
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What more would Marc Coma need to feel good? He had a relaxed start to the day, with the prospect of a long journey through Patagonia as the pathfinder. Since there were few navigational constraints, there was no worry about getting lost and losing time, especially since his nearest pursuer in the general standings, David Frétigné, was 39 minutes behind him. All the conditions were combined for the Catalan to continue widening the gap, riding at a pace that others would consider supersonic, but which he considers to be gentle. That said, on a bike, everything is relative…
On the finishing line, in spite of a few cattle gets that he was careful to open on the way, Coma grabbed the day’s best time. He won his 7th stage victory on the Dakar with a lead of 1.17 over Cyril Despres and 1.21 over Jonah Street. With this display, the American rider pushed David Frétigné back into 3rd position, but with only 45 seconds between the two, the battle for second place is far from over.
Spain continued its distinguished display in the car category, with a new victory for Carlos Sainz. Arriving in Neuquen with 6 seconds less on the clock than Nasser Al Attiyah, the VW driver brings his total of triumphs on the Dakar to 11. After four days of racing, it would appear that the duel which has the spectators holding their breath is the one being fought out between Sainz and Al Attiyah, who have shared the stage wins this year so far and are only separated in the general standings by 3.49. However, will their vehicles continue to be reliable? After all there are still more than 6,000 kilometers of the race to go.
The expected rivalry with Mitsubishi could occur, as often is the case, later on in the race. In any case, it was not during this fourth stage that "Peter" and his team-mates were able to charge back up the standings. Far behind the leading Hispano-Qatari duo, Nani Roma was the best representative of the Japanese constructor, driving his Lancer to a 5th placed finish on the stage, 6.54 behind the day’s winner. In the general standings, after Masuoka’s withdrawal and the misfortunes of Alphand during yesterday’s stage, only Peterhansel and Roma are in a position to ambush the leaders, less than 20 minutes behind, in 4th and 5th place respectively.
Close pursuit is also a method used in the T2 category. Today, Jun Mitsuhashi was again the quickest in the category, with the 28th best time of the day, followed this time by Ronan Chabot, also a former winner in the Production category. Having arrived in Neuquen 2.26 behind his Japanese team-mate, Chabot is also well placed in terms of the final podium, because Nicolas Gibon, who lost almost 30 minutes during the special, only hung onto his third place by three minutes.
With his third stage victory in the truck category this year, Gerard De Rooy has strengthened his status as a legitimate pretender to the title. However, his rivals behind him are starting to apply pressure, meaning there is no room for error. The Russian fleet of Kamaz trucks lies in wait, with three drivers pursuing De Rooy. Indeed, Chagain is only 10.14 behind in the general standings. (Marathonrally.com)
Monday, January 5, 2009
Dakar 2009 - Stage 3 - Cars Interviews
Today, I had to attack. I lost a lot of time in yesterday’s stage so I had to take that into account and push hard during this special stage. So I drove fast and passed Terranova, then Miller, etc. And eventually,
Now, I know that Carlos and I, we will be playing the game. Tomorrow, he will start behind me and I’m sure he will be putting the pressure on pretty quickly in the race.
Stéphane Peterhansel (Fra - 300 - Mitsubishi) - 300
"It was a fast stage. We had a hard time keeping the lead car in our sight. We lost time little by little. From then on, there was nothing but dust and without a pacemaker in front, it was hard to keep going. We finished with a delay. I hope we will find more technical routes with some tech crossing because this is how we can thing about making a difference. The car is going well; its performances are ok. But now we need bumpier trails to make the best of its good suspension and great balance."
Giniel De Villiers (Afs - 305 - VW) - 304
It was a pretty nice stage; this time, there were more sinuous sections and I found this more interesting than the two previous ones. It was very fast in the beginning and very fast at the end as well, so there were not many opportunities to create big gaps. We just tried to drive clean and avoid boulders as there were many on the trail. For now, we must keep putting pressure on the Mitsubishis. So far, we have had no problems so we will try to keep going that way and we’ll see what happens.
Verhoeven opportunistic whilst Sainz takes control
On a stage that was mostly quick, which suited Marc Coma in theory, the leader of the general standings in the bike race lost part of his lead, slowed down by a mechanical problem. Frans Verhoeven won his first ever special stage on the
What is true one day is not always thus the day after. The same could be said for Marc Coma, whose display between
ing bikers in the rally. Having set off first, with the responsibility of leading the way, the Spaniard continued in much the same vein to start with as his brilliant showing yesterday, landing the best time at CP2, 2.20 ahead of Jonah Street. But he was only half way there! The situation took a turn for the worse on one of the quick sections of which he is so
fond, when he was slowed down by a radiator problem. Frans Verhoven, renowned for his consistency, took advantage of this mishap to grab his first ever special stage victory on the
Many riders would still like to be in Marc Coma’s shoes however, since he has a lead of 13.47 over his new pursuer, Frans Verhoven. Provisional third place on the podium went to
In the car category, the first stage showed that the Volkswagen Race Touaregs would not be waiting in ambush for long, and today Carlos Sainz was the most capable at combining speed and wisdom. For Nasser Al Attiyah and Tina Thorner, yesterday’s winners, the task was proving that their talents as navigators were equal to their pure driving skills. At this level, small mistakes can change everything. Indeed, after a navigational error, when the crew had to execute a quick about-turn to avoid missing a WPM (way point marker, which drivers must pass through), the Qatari ended up behind Sainz and especially in a cloud of dust. Blinded by the Argentine version of fesh-fesh, Al Attiyah sensibly preferred to avoid potentially dangerous attacks. In these conditions, Carlos Sainz completed a faultless display, right up to the finishing line, with the day’s best time. As regards the Mitsubishis, Stéphane Peterhansel was not scared by the dust and his audacity paid off: he scored the second best time of the day, 1.14 behind Sainz.
The first surprises occurred in the T2 category, in which Miki Biasion, former WRC world champion, lost his place as leader. The day’s winner in the category, Michel De Nora, at the wheel of a Toyota Land Cruiser, only managed to rack up a lead of 1.30 over Jérôme Hardy, in a Mitsubishi Pajero. However, for the moment, Mr. Consistency is Jun Mitsuhashi, a former winner of the “Production” category, who is showing great resistance. He is currently in 36th position in the provisional general standings.
In the truck category, the turn that events are taking is starting to become a worry for title holder Hans Stacey, who, after only two special stages, is already 1:12.00 behind the race leader: Gerard De Rooy. The GINAF driver, who yesterday saw a stage victory slip through his grasp by just two seconds, was untroubled by the day’s route. He triumphed with a lead of 3.58 over Firdaus Kabirov and has taken the lead in the truck general standings. (Marathonrally.com)
Dakar 2009: Al-Attiyah fastest again on day three
Carlos Sainz still in the lead
By Matt Beer (Autosport.com) Monday, January 5th 2009, 17:51 GMT
Nassar Al-Attiyah took his second stage win of the 2009 Dakar Rally on day three, but a puncture meant he was unable to significantly reduce Carlos Sainz's overall lead.
X-Raid BMW driver Al-Attiyah had led the event after the opening stage, only to drop back when he went off-course on Sunday and struggled to find the correct route afterwards.
He looked set to make up for that today, when he reached the second checkpoint of the 551-kilometre Puerto Madryn to Jacobacci stage 2:45 faster than the rest of the field, but a puncture then cost him a lot of time in the final section.
Although Al-Attiyah still managed to win the stage, his margin over second-fastest man Sainz was eventually just 35 seconds, which means that the VW driver is now 3:40 ahead of Al-Attiyah in the overall standings.
"In the last 50 kilometres there was one bike that jumped in front of us and we hit some rocks and had to change the tyres," said Al-Attiyah, who still moved up from fourth to second on the leaderboard.
"I think it's cost us about two minutes, but really this was a very good run - no problems in all the 550 kilometres except the puncture. It's good we are here (at the finish) and the car is working very well. I think we did a good job today.
"We're taking care of the car because it's a long rally, but I think one day we must really push a lot to make good times. But at the moment it's good going and we'll see what happens."
Sainz's teammate Giniel de Villiers has dropped from second to third after a cautious run through today's stage.
It was a bad day for the usually-dominant Mitsubishi team, with 2006 Dakar victor Luc Alphand stopping for nearly half an hour in the stage with an apparent mechanical problem, and 2007 winner Stephane Peterhansel losing time to Al-Attiyah throughout the stage and finishing five and a half minutes off the pace. He is now fourth overall, ahead of teammate Joan Roma and VW's Mark Miller.
Dieter Depping was third quickest in today's stage, but is over an hour behind the leaders in the overall times having suffered costly electrical problems on Saturday.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Dakar 2009 - More inteviews after Stage 2 - Santa Rosa - Puerto Madryn
Carlos Sainz (Esp – Volkswagen) - 301
At the wheel of a Race Touareg with a slightly crumpled right wing, Carlos Sainz crossed the finishing line of today’s special stage as the winner… The Spaniard also takes the lead in the general standings.
“It was a very difficult stage with all the dust and the bikes. At times, we nearly had to stop. I even hit a biker at one point; I hope he’s going to be ok”.
Giniel De Villiers (SA - VW) - 300
1.56 behind the day’s winner Carlos Sainz, Giniel De Villiers displayed good consistency by finishing 3rd in the special stage, like yesterday.
“The start of the special was very quick, but as soon as we arrived in the off-track part, it was not very easy to navigate and we got a little bit lost. We must have lost a minute or two. Then in the last section, there was lots of fesh-fesh, so it was very difficult to get past the bikers. But I tried to be cautious and avoid any mishaps. We didn’t do too badly”.
Stéphane Peterhansel (Fra – Mitsubishi) - 300
Slowly but surely, the title holder is getting stronger. While still adapting to his brand new Mitsubishi Lancer, Peterhansel manage to pick up second place on the special.
“This special stage was a bit more technical. There was some off-terrain work for the first time, so we had to be on our guard. But, it was okay. I caught up with Luc (Alphand) at one point. After that, we ended up in the dust thrown up by the bikers then by Miller (VW). It wasn’t very nice, until we were able to overtake him. It was a short special but, in spite of that, there were some big fesh-fesh sections with quite thick vegetation. We were almost stopped at that point, because visibility was down to 1 or
Frans Verhoeven (Nld – 15 – KTM) - 015
Having set off in 4th this morning from
“At the start it was quite technical, but then it became quicker. In the middle, there was a very difficult navigation section in amongst the vegetation and with the dust, it was impossible to see any tire tracks. I managed to find the route and at one time I saw there were no more tire tracks in front of me, so I knew I was in the lead…”
Cyril Despres (Fra – KTM) - 001
Without a visor on his helmet and with serious damage to the front of his KTM, Cyril Despres once again had a complicated day, but still managed to finish second in the day’s special stage.
“On arriving in the
David Frétigné (Fra – Yamaha) - 012
Just like the day before, David Frétigné finished this second special stage with a broad smile on his face. The Frenchman really seems to be enjoying riding his Yamaha 450cc, and the results are following on accordingly.
“To be honest, that was
Marc Coma (Esp – 2 – KTM) - 002
“I had a problem with the radiator. I noticed after
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)
Dakar 2009: First Interviews after Stage 2.
At the wheel of a Race Touareg with a slightly crumpled right wing, Carlos Sainz crossed the finishing line of today’s special stage as the winner… The Spaniard also takes the lead in the general standings. "It was a very difficult stage with all the dust and the bikes. At times, we nearly had to stop. I even hit a biker at one point; I hope he’s going to be ok".
1.56 behind the day’s winner Carlos Sainz, Giniel De Villiers displayed good consistency by finishing 3rd in the special stage, like yesterday. "The start of the special was very quick, but as soon as we arrived in the off-track part, it was not very easy to navigate and we got a little bit lost. We must have lost a minute or two. Then in the last section, there was lots of fesh-fesh, so it was very difficult to get past the bikers. But I tried to be cautious and avoid any mishaps. We didn’t do too badly".
Slowly but surely, the title holder is getting stronger. While still adapting to his brand new Mitsubishi Lancer, Peterhansel manage to pick up second place on the special. "This special stage was a bit more technical. There was some off-terrain work for the first time, so we had to be on our guard. But, it was okay. I caught up with Luc (Alphand) at one point. After that, we ended up in the dust thrown up by the bikers then by Miller (VW). It wasn’t very nice, until we were able to overtake him. It was a short special but, in spite of that, there were some big fesh-fesh sections with quite thick vegetation. We were almost stopped at that point, because visibility was down to 1 or
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
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Peterhansel gets a last gasp victory in Portugal
Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret took advantage of the short final stage of the PAX Rally 2008 to get a last gasp victory in Portimao. After a total 800 kilometres driving against the clock, and half of today`s stage neutralised by a forest fire, Stéphane Peterhansel snatched the victory from the ex World Rally Champion, Carlos Sainz, by 16 seconds.
Luc Alphand was third in the end, bringa successful end to the racing career of the Mitsubishi Montero Evolution with a double success; it will be substituted in the Dakar 2009 by the new Mitsubishi Racing Lancer. In the motorbike category, Marc Coma made sure of a position on the podium after finishing today's stage in third position, behind Rubén Faria the winner of the Rally, and Zé Hélio, second on the stage.
After five days of competition and more than ten hours of fighting against the clock in the centre and south of Portugal, Stéphane Peterhansel and Carlos Sainz started the last special stage separated by only 31 seconds. A forest fire in the middle of the route shortened today's stage even more, and at the same time the chances of fighting for the victory. But in the end a Carlos Sainz error allowed the Repsol driver to get a lead of 47 seconds over the Spaniard and so win the Rally in a heart-stopping finale. More at marathonrally.com
Standings here
The Argentinian, Orly Terranova finished the race after suffering some medical problems, but he managed to overcome them and struggled his way up the rally in his BMW X3. But the team faced a number of problems when the car knocked into a stone and damaged the front suspension which sent him way back in the results grid. Also a fire was declared on one of the stages which delayed the race. More here
Watch this video of Orly Terranova on two wheels
Watch an official video of the race
Pax Rally Part 2
Pax Rally Part3