A complete success for the two Repsol teams, cars and bikes, in the tough Rally in Dubai, a victory for Stéphane Peterhansel in cars and for Marc Coma in bikes. The Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart has now set a record of 8 victories in the UAE Desert Challenge – this was the 6th consecutive victory – whilst Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret got their 4th victory in this event in the Montero Evolution since 2002.
The French pair overcame the stifling heat in the UAE desert to take the lead on the penultimate stage, and the perfect control of their lead meant that they beat Carlos Sainz, second, by 11 minutes 56 seconds after a competition distance of 1 500km.With slightly cooler cloudier conditions today, the objective of the French pair – leaders after a very tough stage yesterday – was to control the race by protecting their lead of 9 minutes by keeping tags on Nasser Al Attiyah, and at the same time keeping a watchful eye on their closest rival, Carlos Sainz, who started behind them. The 6th and final stage was a drive through the southern desert of the UAE close to the frontier with Saudi Arabia over 2 210km, after that Stéphane and Jean-Paul drove the short stretch on the road to arrive at the Dubai International Marítime Club for the prize giving ceremony this afternoon.Their teammates Luc Alphand and Gilles Picard fought constantly for the lead during the first part of the event and on the third day got it, but on the Thursday they had to retire with a damaged suspension. The other team members, Nani Roma and Lucas Cruz, also had to retire after the Spanish driver fell ill just after the start on the Tuesday.In motorbikes the same happened as on the previous days, but this time in favour of the Repsol rider who got into the lead on the first day, as Coma was able to extend his lead to over 5 minutes by the end of the race. Coma started third today, 4 minutes behind Despres and 2 behind Ullevalseter. Just after the start of the first special he had caught the Norwegian rider and reached the end of the first special just 30 seconds behind Cyril Despres. On the second the Repsol rider reached the Frenchman and arrived at the finishing line 20 seconds behind, and in spite of being in charge of the race from the very first special had to fight right to the last moment.Marc ComaToday we had the two specials returning from Moreeb to Dubai, the first with more sand and a few dunes, and the second wherte we did not really cross the desert. It was on fast tracks, with more navigation, and the truth is that it was fun and entertaining. I started out paying special attention to my rivals because my lead was very small and it was important not to make any mistakes. On the first special I went fast to catch Cyril and I almost did so. On the second I went slower keeping an eye on him. I am pleased because everything went well and the whole team has done a great job.Jordi ViladomsI feel fine, my back hurts a bit and it is stiff but I am OK. I have to go to Barcelona now and meet Dr. Mir for some tests and see if I have anything damaged so I can finally relax. I will have to rest for a few days, and the worst case will be that I cannot return to normal training for 3 weeks, and then we will continue preparing the Dakar.Jordi ArcaronsToday was a very important day as Marc and Cyril had to fight for the race as Marc`s lead was very small and Cyril could have ruined the week`s work. But the truth is that we saw Marc on hgis bike today, how he was riding and how concentrated he was, and we knew that the race was his for the taking. This rally means that we now have a lot of confidence in Marc`s level, he is demonstrating that he is in great form, the bike is great too as it did not have the slightest problem, and so we can continue to work towards the Dakar. As for Viladoms, the important thing now is to know exactly what the damage is and see how much rest he needs, to see if he will be 100% for Lisbon. We hope that he will not be off the bike for long because he has had some good races, in Patagonia, Egypt and here. I though he was looking good in this racce, very competitive but he had some bad luck, but we are confident that he will be back on his bike quite quicklyStéphane PeterhanselWe were successful by keeping to the plan we had decided on before the start, and in the end it was the right one. If you drive flat out all the time obviously there is a chance that you can lead the race but at the same time you are taking big risks. This week we were helped by the Montero Evolution. The MPR13 is a very robust car and well-equipped, this lets you drive as you like even in the heat that we had this week. It is fantastic to have won and today`s result is a morale booster for the Dakar, but nobody in this team is going to forget that the Dakar promises to be a long and very tough event…’
