After leading the Transiberian Rally from stage one, Repsol driver Nani Roma said farewell to his hopes of a victory precisely when he was in total command of the test. Roma continued to increase his margin over teammate Luc Alphand, immediate contender and now leader of the general classification, in a special disputed under heavy rain.
However, his alternator belt broke and Roma was forced to withdraw halfway through the second special, in which would have been the first victory for the new Mitsubishi Montero Evolution MPR14 Diesel.He was able to continue for a few kilometres, slowly and without power-steering, until his battery was completely discharged. After waiting for assistance, he made it to the closed park, and will start off tomorrow in order to complete the Rally with his two teammates in the Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart, though with a heavy penalty.Today’s stage consisted of two timed specials of 165 kilometres each, which were claimed by Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah -penalised with 40 minutes the first day and therefore ready to risk it all in order to take partial victories-, and Luc Alphand, who in his attempt at reducing the difference with Roma in the general classification, attacked right from the start. The Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart driver dropped his pace once he knew of Roma’s withdrawal, but was still able to run the fastest time.Stéphane Peterhansel continued to pay for testerday’s mistake, as the start from so far back meant having to overtake a number of rivals, on a day when the conditions did not allow for too many risks. The heavy rain notably reduced visibility, making the tracks even more slippery and adding the difficulty of mud. As a result, he finished seventh in the first special and third in the second, climbing six positions in the general classification.Tomorrow the last stage will be held, with two runs on a 165 km timed special, and will take the caravan to the town of Estoril, final destination of the Transiberian Rally.Nani Roma, withdrawnIt’s a shame, because right from the first day I’ve been leading the race. It was very a positive experience, though we had a few small novice problems. It’s important having been so close to winning the first race with a diesel car, and we’ve shown some great performance. We’re very happy, because it’s only the first diesel version, not definitive yet, with the chassis from the petrol model. Overall it has gone well and I’m just thinking about racing with this car again. We have to be optimistic, because in the future this will be the perfect car to fight for the Dakar.Luc Alphand 1st, 12h37min.58secs,Today I tried to keep up my regularity. It was a very complicated special, very slippery again and very muddy, as the rain today made it a very dangerous special. I attacked during both specials, but as soon as I heard Nani was out of the race my aim was to maintain the result and try to finish without any problems. I was taking quite a lot of risks, but now I have a big advantage over the second driver and being ahead with a Mitsubishi is very important.Stéphane Peterhansel, at 1h15mins 55secs,As I started out at the back due to yesterday’s mistake, I met slower drivers. What’s more, the tracks were very winding, narrow and technical, and along with the rain, which greatly reduced visibility, overtaking was very difficult and dangerous. I hope I can finish tomorrow’s rally well, but in these competitions small mistakes are paid for dearly, because everythng is very tight. I would have liked to climb a few places, but it’s a very short rally, and there aren’t many kilometres left, which made it dangerous to take any risks in such tough conditions, overtaking cars on such slippery tracks. Any small skid could mean running off the track, turning over or a crash against a tree, and that’s a risk we didn’t want to take bearing in mind our few chances of taking the victory and that the Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart has the race under control.
