Ouarzazate to Tan Tan
Connection: 164 km - Special: 325 km - Connection: 289 km
Total: 768 km
Bike:
Isidre Esteve (SPA - KTM Gauloises - Winner)
I'm happy, I set a good pace. The stage was very technical at the start,
then quick afterwards. After 60 kilometres I caught up with Coma. Everything
went well and the bike was perfect. We made a few adjustments yesterday with
David (Casteu) and it was all okay throughout the stage. Tomorrow will be a
decisive stage, like all the route through Mauritania.
Marc Coma (SPA - KTM Repsol -- 2nd)
It was a hard stage with a fair bit of mountain riding. It required a lot of
physical effort. After that, there were the stones under tires worn by two
days of racing -- you had to be careful. Today I kept at a normal pace. I
opened proceedings for this stage without taking risks and I carried on
leading even when Isidre (Esteve) caught up. Our aim was to arrive in
Mauritania without having any problems. Tomorrow, it's a different Dakar
rally which starts, a hard and decisive race.
Cyril Despres (FRA -- KTM Gauloises -- 3rd)
Today, I kept 2% in reserve as a safety margin, which is what I do usually.
After 325 kilometres, that resulted in a gap of five minutes. I don't know
if Marc and Isidre are keeping something in reserve, but I really have the
impression that they have been very fast over all the Moroccan section of
the rally. But I haven't given up hope of winning. Twenty five of the
minutes I've lost are due to a broken gear-box and ten minutes are due to
the problems of riding in everyone else's dust yesterday. Normally, I would
only have lost around ten minutes. I can't believe that I seem to be having
all the bad luck, especially since I'm the rider who's being the most
careful. For me, there have only been three special stages on the Dakar. The
main thing is that physically I feel great.
Jordi Viladoms (SPA - KTM Repsol -- 4th)
It was all better today. I started in a better position and had fewer
problems with the dust. Everything worked well today, but I thing the team
can do even better. At any rate, I'm happy to have got through Morocco
without any technical or physical problems. What lies in wait for us will
determine how the race develops, but personally, I'm confident because I can
handle the dunes fairly well. Having a good position is good for the team,
because I'm much closer to Marc (Coma).
Chris Blais (USA -- KTM -- 5th)
It was a good day for me. I though I had ridden well, but I still lost 14
minutes. I made a slight navigational mistake just before CP2. It was a
stupid way to lose time. After the night without assistance, I was obviously
worried about the state of the bike. By the time I got here, the rear tire
was completely bald. Today, I was thinking of Elmer Symons whilst I was
riding. He was a good friend and often came to see me. It's really bad. He'd
been talking about doing this race for five years. With Cyril (Despres) and
Marc (Coma) we spoke to all the riders to tell them to be really careful, to
follow the road-book instructions and not to leave the right track,
especially in the morning with a full tank and tiredness from the night
before. It's something that we professional riders should also keep in mind.
David Casteu (FRA -- KTM Gauloises -- 8th)
I'm happy with my day because I'll be setting off in eighth position
tomorrow, which is quite good. I rode all on my own during the special and
didn't take any risks. We've still got three countries to cross, so I'm
being careful. To go any faster, I'd need to get nasty with my bike.
Obviously, it's not good news to lose 15 minutes on Marc, but perhaps my
bike is in a beter state than his. Anyway, I'm very proud of myself to have
finished the stage with the safety margin I've maintained: I intend on
sticking in my saddle.
Car:
Carlos Sainz (SPA - VW - Winner)
For the moment, everything is fine. It was a good day, but a hard day. Once
again, there were plenty of stones. I spent the stage trying to avoid
them... It's one day of the race less to complete, but we know there is
still much to do. Now the real Dakar starts. Perhaps my lack of experience
in the dunes will come into play...
Stephane Peterhansel (FRA -- Mitsubishi -- 2nd)
It wasn't exciting today. We had to drive carefully to avoid punctures. It
was the only way to get a good result. I was overtaken by Ari (Vatanen) who
was going flat out, so I let him pass, but he paid for it later with a flat
tire. Carlos (Sainz) didn't get a puncture by driving safely and he won. It
was a bit frustrating with all these stones. I'm happy to have finished with
Morocco. Each year I come a cropper here. Tomorrow shouldn't be too
difficult. I don't think there will be any big gaps. All the first part of
the stage is very quick. I remember the time when I used to ride a
twin-cylinder Yamaha, I loved it there.
Giniel De Villiers (SA -- Volkswagen -- 3rd)
It was a very winding and rocky special stage. We caught up with Schlesser
quite quickly. We must have sounded our horn around 15 times but he never
let us past. We stayed in his dust for more than a hundred kilometres before
he had a puncture. But all in all, it was a good 'clean' day. It's the type
of route that is very demanding for the car, so I'm happy that everything
went well. As regards the general rankings, it's still very close. For the
moment, nothing's certain. The next 4 days will probably be important. In
Mauritania, the gaps can leap to around 30' per day.
Luc Alphand (FRA - Mitsubishi -- 4th)
There were loads of stones. At one time, I even asked how many kilometres
were left. It was full of pitfalls. It was really easy to break something
over these last few days. But the car is okay. We stayed with the pace
yesterday and today as well. The only thing we're missing is a bit of
success. We're losing a little bit of time each day. Today we had a
puncture, which robbed us of 3 minutes. Then we had a problem with the boot.
We stopped to shut it and lost 2 more minutes in the process. I don't think
our entry into Mauritania will be decisive because tomorrow's route is again
a quick stage, with few dunes. We're looking forward to the desert.
Guerlain Chicherit (FRA -- BMW -- 8th)
I had a wonderful day, until nine kilometres from the finishing line, where
I got a flat tire whilst we were still in the special stage. I thought about
carrying on driving with the puncture, but I told myself that I could really
damage the car that way, so we stopped to change the wheel and I saw all the
others go past us. I finished in Schlesser's dust. Before that, I had a
great feeling. In the first part, which was very technical, we felt like we
were flying over certain sections. It was like motocross. Now we're going
into Mauritania and I can't wait. I'm sure that the car will be very quick
on sand as well. I haven't got anything to compare with in relation to the
others, but I'm very confident.
Truck:
Hans Stacey (HOL -- MAN -- Winner of the special stage)
It was a difficult stage, with a lot of stones and plenty of dust too. I
spent a long time behind Chagin, driving normally without going flat out.
Now, it's great to have taken over as leader, but I especially don't want to
get carried away. In fact, I would have preferred to stay in the position of
pursuer, because know I've got to deal with all the pressure of being first.
I preferred when the pressure was on Chagin. In spite of all that, I'm sure
that the rest of the rally will be exciting, a really good race.
Gerard De Rooy (HOL - Ginaf -- 2nd)
The first part of the stage was quite tiresome, but after around 80
kilometres it turned into a superb rally-raid stage. There were all sorts of
surfaces. It was interesting to drive on. The outcome of the day is god. I
wasn't surprised by Chagin's accident. My father and I had seen that he was
systematically driving off-track, without the road book. Obviously, he
didn't have anyone's dust and so he was driving really fast, not worrying
about a thing. The race up to Dakar will be really exciting now. It's going
to be a great duel between two fine drivers.
-credit: dakar.com
