Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart was unable to make in-roads into the overall leader’s advantage after the fifth and most demanding special stage of the event so far between Neuquén and San Rafaël in Argentina.
The three turbo-diesel Racing Lancers arrived at the bivouac en San Rafaël having set the sixth, seventh and ninth fastest times on the stage. The result means that the three Mitsubishi crews held fifth, sixth and eighth places in the overall classification, but there was a late scare for defending champion, Stéphane Peterhansel (France).
He and co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret had moved into contention for a stage win on the early part of the special and were the virtual leaders at the 102km point, despite starting from eighth position.
They maintained their pace through the 230km point and had opened up a 1m 42secs lead heading into the second section of the special, although Dieter Depping (Germany) pipped them to the fastest time at 230km mark.
Peterhansel was a mere 10 seconds behind heading into a sea of sand dunes at the end of the stage. Giniel de Villiers eventually set the fastest time and Peterhansel crossed the finish line in fourth position, but drama had unfolded 15km before the end of the stage for the defending champion. As he was going down a dune and heading for the second the Mitsubishi hit a patch of camel grass and turned over. The impact damaged the car’s bodywork and radiator.
Luc Alphand and Gilles Picard started the stage in third position behind the two overall leaders, Carlos Sainz and Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah, and were running in seventh position through the opening passage control at 230km. Alphand slipped to 10th through PC2 and finished the stage in seventh, a puncture hindering him.
The cars and drivers covered a technical and twisty opening section of the stage, before beginning a climb up to a height of 2 300 metres. This guided them into the first real zone of sand dunes, around 60km towards the end of the stage.
Nani Roma and Lucas Cruz Senra were fifth out this morning and were classified in ninth position through the first two controls. They finished the gruelling stage eighth in their Racing Lancer with BFGoodrich tyres, despite two slow punctures during the stage.
Four hundred and twenty vehicles were classified at the end of the fourth leg, but an unofficial 23 cars, bikes and trucks failed to restart this morning, and so the original entry of 530 vehicles was reduced even further.
Tomorrow (Thursday) is the last of the special stages on the event’s first of two visits to Argentina and consists of a 76km liaison into a 395km special stage to Argentina’s fourth city, Mendoza, overlooked on the western horizon by the Andes mountains. The city stands 824 metres above sea level in a region famous for its wine industry and is a popular destination for tourists interested in climbing, skiing, rafting and hiking.
The stage heads through the northern Patagonian lakeland and then turns north to a finish south of Pareditas. A 154km liaison then takes crews into the overnight halt in Mendoza, with the volcanic peak of Tupungatito rising to 6 550 metres in the background.
Dominique Serieys, team director
“I thought that today would be the start of the real Dakar and I was right but, unfortunately, we did not have lady luck on our side this afternoon. Stéphane had a roll in the camel grass between the dunes and damaged the car. We will work all the night if necessary to repair it so that he can start again tomorrow. Luc and ‘Nani’ had flat tires, but are still in good positions.”
Stéphane Peterhansel
“We descended a sand dune and were heading for the foot of a second dune, when the Mitsubishi hit a patch of camel grass and flipped over. The impact damaged the bodywork and the radiator and this affected the temperature of the engine, causing it to rise. Now I hope that the mechanics can repair the car here at the service park.”
Luc Alphand
“Very, very difficult today. Many competitors will have big problems. It was so long. There was a lot of time off piste in wadis and river beds. To the first PC was okay, but the way back was a nightmare. We nearly got stuck. It is grass in between sand, quite different and very difficult. The bottom of the dunes are very square, so you need a good technique to drive them.”
Joan ‘Nani’ Roma
“It was not easy. At the end it was difficult. The main thing is that we are here and still okay.”
