by Mike K-H

Formula 1 may have become boring, but off-road rallying certainly hasn't.

With the exception of a hundred vehicles and two hundred people who had to remain in Libya as a result of the landmine, which blasted off a KTM support truck’s wheel, the rest of the teams and competitors enjoyed a rest day at the military base of Siwa in Egypt, before the final stages of the 2003 Telefonica Dakar race

Five days of serious racing, one demonstration day, 2300km remain in this, the most grueling and awesome cross-country rally on the globe.

Last night things did not look so good and the organizers circulated the following memo:

Press release                        Sunday, 12 January 2003; 19h30

After a press conference with Dakar competition director, Hubert Auriol and head of the race medical center, Christian Noel, here is the main information concerning Sunday's stage 12 between Sarir and Siwa:

The rear left wheel of truck number 416, a KTM assistance vehicle, appears to have exploded on a mine in Egyptian territory. All three members are fine. No further details have been given on the reason of the explosion. The Egyptian authorities are on site to move the truck. All vehicles situated behind the incident have been stopped in order not to go through the portion where the truck is located. They will stay where they are in a bivouac until the zone is safe.

Concerning injuries:

·         Patsy QUICK (n.100): After falling early in the special, was taken by helicopter to Siwa and went through surgery for a ruptured spleen. Is in satisfactory condition. Will be taken to Cairo.

·         Jaap VAN DER KOOY (n.151): went through surgery for a basin fracture. Is in a satisfactory condition.

·         Kenjiro SHINOZUKA: recovering well in Tunis. Leaving for Europe on Monday.

Early this morning, everyone was safely through and into Egypt.

Bikes

Comments from the bikers at the bivouac after yesterday’s stage:

Fabrizio Meoni (KTM - n.1) 1st of the special, 3rd overall

"Yesterday was a lot faster than today. I will do the maximum every day. Maybe not to be part of the battle for leadership but to be well present in the race. It was a good special. It's good to go quickly. In the last part, I lost a bit of time losing myself. I lost about 2 minutes. I went full speed on the special. The bike was working well as usual. Yesterday, it was the first time in two years I broke down. Not completey because I finished on one cylinder. And it happened on the worst day. That's life. I'm not as happy as expected. I thought I would make it to the rest day in position to win the rally and prepare the decisive week in excellent condition. Now everything has changed. There are no more tactics. I have to do the maximum every day. Maybe there's a chance, but it's very difficult. It all depends on the course."

Richard Sainct (KTM - n.3) 2nd of the special, 1st overall

"It's a logical result. I'm not disappointed at all. It was a very fast stage. I caught up two bikers who were in front of me and finished the special with them. It doesn't really matter if Meoni's won 10 minutes on me today. Just as long as everything goes well for me, I can control the race. All the days look alike but are very important. I'm not telling myself that I have won the rally and remain well focused. I don't want to put any pressure on myself."

During the rest day all motorcycles are completely taken apart as well. The mechanics crosscheck all parts in detail. Everything is being cleaned, some of it changed. Roland Bruckner is taking care of Cyril Despre’s motorbike this year. The man from North Bavaria is enthusiastic about Cyrils way of riding. “Daily, the guy returns his bike in an excellent condition. Cyril has not even crashed once yet. He is driving rather carefully. I didn’t have to make extensive repairs so far. Therefore, I could check out small things, which can become crucial as well.” Today Bruckner will take the KTM 660 Rally completely apart. And how do mechanic and biker communicate? “I sorted out the French I have learned in school,” says Bruckner, “It’s working out pretty good. And if we can’t manage, we switch to English. Since the time Cyril is competing in rallys professionally, he’s been taking several English courses. So we understand each other perfectly!” During the race the mechanic is of course desperately watching out for “his” biker and “his” bike.

“Cyril is within reach of Richard Sainct. But I also think that he will not be able to achieve it on his own initiative. Richard will have to make some kind of mistake in order for Cyril to pass him by.”

Tomorrow’s special is a loop. Siwa is again the finish of the stage. For the team it has the advantage that they are able to stay at the bivouac. And tomorrow morning the mechanics will finally have enough time to take a shower as well. “

Cars

Stephane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi - n.206) 1st of the special, 1st overall

Hiroshi Masuoka (Mitsubishi - n.200) 3rd of the special, 2nd overall

"Today was a very fast and enjoyable stage. Nothing special to say today. Tomorrow, I will think of a strategy for the last week. I believe I can beat Peterhansel on any kind of terrain. The car works well. I might well attack on Tuesday. I don't know, we'll see."

Matthew Stevenson (BMW - n.221) co-driver 2nd of the special, 16th overall

"It was long and fast. No problems at all. A good tyre choice today. We went for sand tires while the others where on rock tyres. We're here to help out Gregoire (De Mevius) so we took it easy and finished second. We overtook quite a few cars but in the dunes, it's not a problem. It's wide and open. Luc (Alphand) is cool and has a great spirit. It's good to drive with him. Now we want to get the car as close to the front as we can. Be conservative and win a stage. We work as a team and the goal is to get the best car as high as possible. If Gregoire has mechanical or tyre problems we'll stopped to help him."

Gregoire De Mevius (BMW - n.205) 9th of the special, 3rd overall

"Luc made a different choice of tyres compared to me. A good decision because it went well for him. Today it was psychologically important to win time on Fontenay to reassure ourselves because I believe we are faster than the old version of the Pajero. I don't know what kind of team strategy the Mitsubishis will choose. The pressure is on my shoulders. Due to the fact I'm between Mitsubishi vehicles, I suppose they will have to take it easy. Third is a good position, Better than we expected."

Tomorrow stage 12 in the form of a loop from Siwa and back to Siwa over a total distance of 445km , which includes a special stage of 341km provides some of the highest dunes in the race. The stage in the vicinity of Siwa is a real spectator event and all the visitors to the rest will be able watch the circus do its stunts.