Luc Alphand and co-driver Gilles Picard were proclaimed this afternoon winners of the Transiberian Rally disputed in Portugal after a tough test, thus claiming the first victory of the 2008 season for the Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart team.
The Frenchman did it behind the wheel of the Mitsubishi MPR13, after the big protagonists of the Portugese test, Spaniard Nani Roma, co-driver Lucas Cruz and the Mitsubishi MPR14 Diesel withdrew yesterday due to mechanical problems after having dominated the race practically from the start.
In spite of yesterday’s withdrawal, Roma competed again today with his car repaired as set out by the rules -though penalised-, and that gave him the chance to show he was the fastest during both specials, a demonstration of how a simple mechanical fault due to the car’s early development has dashed his hopes of claiming the victory.
During the two specials of the day, the Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart team Monteros clearly dominated. During the first special, SS8, Nani Roma overcame yesterday’s deception taking another victory, followed by teammate Peterhansel -second at 5 secs-, Qatari Al-Attiyah over a minute behind, and Alphand fourth at 1 minute 14 secs. During the second and definitive special, SS9, Nani Roma was again the fastest with his Montero MPR14 Diesel, followed by Peterhansel at 7 seconds and Alphand at 1 minute 48 secs.
Alphand finished the Transiberian Rally in first position with a margin of 35 minutes over the second classified, Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah and his BMW X3 CC. Teammate in Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart, Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel, who fell to intermediate positions in the classification when he skidded off the track last Friday, climbed to a final fifth position, and Nani Roma, after yesterday’s mechanical problems when he was firmly leading the Rally, recovered positions today thanks to to his two victories, finishing twelfth.
Nani Roma, in spite of not claiming a deserved victory at the Transiberian Rally due to mechanical problems, leaves satisfied having claimed with his Mitsubishi Montero MPR14 Diesel the first three victories in specials with this new car, which is still in development stages, and which made its appearance in competitions hardly a month ago, its first race being the Central Europe Rally with teammate Hiroshi Masuoka behind the wheel.
The next event for the Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart team will be in Spain, in July, at the Baja Aragón race.
Luc Alphand
“As was expected, we found all types of ground and our Montero Evolution MPR13 was always at a very high level. Our plan for this rally wasn’t to wait for others to make mistakes, but we’ve been attacking as hard as we could right from the start. Before the only problem we had on Saturday morning -a mechanical fault-, we were only 25 seconds behind Nani Roma. I want to thank all the members of the Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart team for their faultless work and also my co-driver Gilles Picard, who did not make a single mistake in spite of the fast pace we’ve been running.”
Stéphane Peterhansel
“I like this test a lot, I think it’s well organised and has very interesting specials. Unfortunately we lost all options of winning during the fourth special on Friday, but I’d like to congratulate Luc -Alphand- and Gilles -Pcard-, because they’ve done a great job and have secured the victory for Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart. I’ve obviously kept my eye on Nani -Roma-‘s development with the MPR14 Diesel, and in spite of the small problems they’ve had, I think the car has great potential. And that is evidently good for all of us.”
Nani Roma
“Today we won both stages again, so we’re still very competitive in spite of having lost our options of winning. What happened to us is a shame, because we were running a great race and the new car was truly competitive. But anyway, these things happen and we were aware that these problems could arise with a new car. But our conclusions after our experience with the MPR14 Diesel are good; the car is very competitive and we’ve also performed at a very high level, when the MPR14 Diesel still hasn’t developed its full potential yet. I’d like to take the opportunity to thank the whole team for the great work they’ve done during the test and with this new car. Now we have to think about the next events ahead of us.”
