In the motorbike class, Marc Coma keeps the leadership despite some mechanical problems during todays special. Luc Alphand extends his overall UAE Desert Challenge lead
Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel and co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret recorded the first ever stage win for the new MPR13 version of Mitsubishis new Pajero/Montero Evolution on its race debut in the UAE Desert Challenge, today. The victory on the cars fourth day of competition moved Peterhansel and Cottret from fifth to second place overall. Defending Dakar Rally champions Luc Alphand and Gilles Picard extended Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliarts outright lead in the UAE Desert Challenge by setting the second fastest time. They now lead their team mates by 22m 22s, with Jean-Louis Schlesser a distant third.
Alphand and Picard had begun this mornings second Moreeb loop stage with a commanding 14m 25s advantage over Frenchman Jean-Louis Schlesser. Opening the stage is not the ideal option and Alphand was caught by team mate Peterhansel shortly after PC1. Stéphane Peterhansel and co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret headed into the selective section 5m 15s behind fourth-placed Finn Ari Vatanen in the overall classification and immediately behind Alphand on the days timed section. They caught Alphand at PC1 and had taken 1m 47s out of the leader at the first PC. Peterhansel duly passed his team mate after PC1 and was fastest overall, a second quicker than Qatars Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah at PC2, before going on to secure the first ever stage win for the new MPR13 on its competition debut
Changing the clutch in the sand dunes had kept Hiroshi Masuoka and Pascal Maimon in contention for the top five on Tuesday afternoon and the Japanese star began this mornings selective section 12th car on the road and in 10th place overall. He was running seventh quickest at PC1, sixth at PC2 and eventually set the fifth fastest time to move up to an unofficial eighth place.
Foggy and humid conditions are prevalent in the UAE at this time of year in the mornings and poor visibility hampered the organizers early today. In previous years there have been considerable delays on safety grounds in such conditions when event helicopters have been unable to over fly the route. For that reason todays selective section was shortened to finish at PC4 and crews returned to the Moreeb Hill bivouac on an asphalt liaison section.
In the motorbike class, a special that was supposed to be a mere formality for the Repsol riders became a complicated day. Marc Coma had mechanical problems with the rear brake of his bike, hindering him from setting a fast pace and allowing Frenchman Cyril Despres, who had started after him, to catch him halfway the special. They continued together until they got Jordi Viladoms – first starter today after yesterday’s stage victory – who had been initially riding together with Esteve, winner of todays stage after escaping from Viladoms and crossing the finish line alone. After this third leg, Coma keeps the leadership while team mate Jordi Viladoms, yesterday third overall, dropped one position to fourth, behind Esteve, winner of todays stage.
Tomorrow (Thursday) is the penultimate leg of this years UAE Desert Challenge and includes a tricky selective section through the Rub Al-Khali or Empty Quarter, made famous in the renowned books and stories by the late British author Wilfred Thesiger, who traversed Arabia in the middle of the last century. The 378.90 km timed section the longest of the entire event – again starts six kilometers from the Moreeb bivouac at the same point as Tuesdays selective and passes through the Rub Al-Khali, south of Khis, before looping around the Humeem road. The finish will be a mere four kilometres from the second passage control on the road to Al-Dhafrah.
Stéphane Peterhansel: Luc made a small mistake near the start and I caught him very early. After this I tried to push and keep a fast pace. The car is perfect. I think today we had a good tire pressure and the balance of the car felt excellent. Today was shorter than yesterday, but the tracks were the same. It is not easy to push too hard with these broken dunes, but it was a good day for us and a great test for the new car.
Luc Alphand: Two small mistakes cost us some time, but it was nothing important, only about 30 seconds. The road book was not so clear and the tracks were quite old. But it was good to test the new car and follow Stéphane. I lost him a little bit at one point, but we managed to stay in touch. Now I must think about a finish and preserving this lead.
Marc Coma: Its been a rather strange stage. The start was delayed due to the fog and we started very late, and it was really hot. Todays stage has been a bit more complicated than expected, there were dunes which were really hard to cross. I started fourth, but I havent been able to make use of that to make up the advantage, because we had some problems with the rear brake of the bike and that made everything more complicated. But its been OK overall. I finished second, the result is good, we keep on moving forward and now we have to enjoy and look forward to the last two days of the race.
Jordi Viladoms: I started first today. I’ve been able to make some kilometres opening the road, which was very good because it’s an experience I haven’t had very often yet. Then Isidre Esteve caught me and we continued together until the refuelling point. Esteve opened a gap after the refuelling, Marc and Cyril caught me and me continued together until the finish. The position is not very good but we are not too far behind the lead, so in the end everything was fine.
Standings
3rd Leg Cars
1. Peterhansel / Cottret (Mitsubishi) 2h 39m 35s
2. Alphand / Picard (Mitsubishi) 2h 43m 5t4s
3. Sainz / Périn (Volkswagen) 2h 45m 24s
4. Saleh Al-Attiyah / Guehennec (BMW) 2h 46m 54s
5. Masuoka / Maimon (Mitsubishi) 2h 50m 31s
Overall Cars
1. Alphand / Picard (Mitsubishi) 9h 25m 53s
2. Peterhansel / Cottret (Mitsubishi) 9h 48m 15s
3. Schlesser / Guigou (Schlesser) 9h 51m 42s
4 Sousa / Schulz (Volkswagen) 9h 54m 14s
5. Saleh Al-Attiyah / Guehennec (BMW) 10h 37m 20s
8. Masuoka / Maimon (Mitsubishi) 11h 02m 03s
3rd Leg Motorbikes
1. C.Blais (KTM) 3h 2m 23s
2. M.Coma (KTM) 3h 4m 18s
3. I.Esteve (KTM) 3h 4m 51s
4. P.Ullevalsetter (KTM) 3h 5m 01s
5. D.Casteu (KTM) 3h 6m 00s
9. J.Viladoms (KTM) 3h 10m 22s
Overall Motorbikes
1. Coma KTM)
2. Despres (KTM) + 7’05 seg.
3. Esteve (KTM) + 11’04 seg.
4. Viladoms (KTM) + 13’28 seg.
5. Casteu (KTM) +19’19 seg
