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General Moto | Off-Topic Posts
Dakar has started...Yam 450 2 wheel in first!!
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[QUOTE="Tony Eeds, post: 712561, member: 32023"] [b][i]Stage Five[/i][/b][i][/i] Stage 5 - 5 January 2004 - ER RACHIDIA > OUARZAZATE Liaison 56 km Special 337 km Liaison 182 km Total 575 km The start of the special was very fast and the tracks sinuous and rocky. Then, the Erg Chebbib, first contact with sand. The second part of the speciale included sandy but fast tracks. Rally rookies discovered all the surprises that such a rally can bring. Ouarzazate : the door to the Great South, land where the sand seems to invade everything. Along the oueds of Drâa, Dadès and Ziz, will be kilometres of orchards, palm plantations and rose gardens. It is the start to the road to the oasis along the Draa valley all the way to Mhamid where suddenly the longest river of Morocco disappears mysteriously between sand and rock. Apparently, Meioni thought the stage was easy: "Today was a special for children! The Spaniards are on their training ground here. If I can keep this rhythm in Morocco, I'll be very happy." KTM Repsol Spain team mates, Esteve Pujol and Juan Roma finished 1 and 2. Pujol's win gives him a 22 second lead in the overall standings over Fabrizio Meoni, the Italian finishing third in today's stage. Today's winner enjoyed his triumph. "Overall the course was fantastic. It had lots of sand, but also lots of rocks. And it was difficult to pass. For the longest time I was stuck behind Alfie. Only when he navigated wrongly was I able to go for it and race further on my own. What I like even better - tomorrow I get to start from the pole position. Then I won't need to pass anyone. I'm equally proud to be leading the overalls." Meanwhile, Richard Sainct finished 8th, complaining of his sore arm from yesterday's crash: "I knew this morning that I would start, but I didn't know how I would feel. Finally, when the muscle has warmed up, it's OK. In my mind, I'm in the same rhythm as the others". Cyril Despres: "It was a tricky course, like usual in Morocco. I thought it would be worse with the rain of the previous days. I lost a lot of time overtaking, especially Roeseler. I had the sun in my face added to all the dust. Then I had a free track ahead. I took it easily without making mistakes. If we start attacking like crazy now, only 12 of us will finish the rally." 39-year-old Austrailian privateer, Andy Caldecott finished 5th today: "I enjoyed most of it. I got lost and probably lost around 3 or 4 minutes. But I was hoping to finish in the good positions. It was a good solid ride. No worries ! Nothing really concerns me but the goal is to finish. We want to finish because we spent a lot of money to come. We don't want to throw it away. I'm not really used to these specials compared to the other guys. They know it by heart because it is the same as in the Morocco rally and in the previous years of the Dakar. The longest special I had ever done was over 300km in Dubai. This is different." "With my small transportation business as only source for financial support this could not have happened. Luckily KTM Australia helped me make my dream come true." For further assistance Andy Caldecott has asked the KTM Support Team to perform. They help with some advice, some repair -if asked even around the clock. "Especially for the logistical support I need to thank KTM very, very much," says the Australian. "I don't need to look after anything at all. I can just ride. And hopefully I get to do so until Dakar." Team Red Bull KTM USA: Scot Harden was best of the Americans today in 16th, now 15th overall with Roeseler dropping to 23rd after finishing 25th today. Paul Krause, on the only other KTM 950, was 28th today and sits 28th overall. Larry Roeseler: "I'm satisfied. On these tracks I feel like being at home in the States." Pal Anders Ullevalsetter from Norway managed to climb up from place 16 to place 10 (+7'54). And the Dakar-viking Per Gunnar Lundmark from Sweden defended the 12th position (+11'25). Lundmark: "The first 100 kilometres went well today, but then something in the navigation went wrong, because at one of the sand dunes I saw that the first waypoint wasn't where it was supposed to have been. Lost 5-8 minutes. Back on route I joined PålAnders and a gang of others and the last 100 kilometres Pål and Coma simply left me. I just have to grit my teeth, because now the race has started. There is always a chance to retaliate tomorrow, is my philosophy. . . I hope to improve each day from now. Pål is courted by Norwegian television each day now." [url]http://www.pgdakar.com/race/2004_dakar/en/dagar/dag_5_en.html[/url] David Fretigne on a two wheel drive WR400 is15th, first non-KTM, behind Pujol by 24 min. Charlie Rauseo, from USA, is 56th. British Patsy Quick is 136th. Swede, Bertil Marcusson, who rode his Honda CRF 450 from Sweden to the start of the Rally, is in 161st, after a rough day today. Canadian Maryline Lambelin is in 170th, but I can't find her team mate Marie-Christine Paré in the standings. They are competing on Bombardier Quads. British team riders, Simon Pavey and Nick Plumb on BMW F650 GS Dakar motorcycles, are 104th and 103rd. Thiery Hupin, who supposedly started riding motorcycles just two weeks before the Rally started, is not found in the standings. In the cars, Stephane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi n°203) won today's stage, beating Masuoka (Mitsubishi n°201) by 4min55. South African Giniel De Villiers (Nissan n°208) was third. "There was so much dust ! We even had to stop because we couldn't see anything. I can't believe how fast Peter went. He must have known the area !!!" Luc Alphand (BMW n°208) was 4th, and his team mate Gregoire De Mevius (n°212) 5th. WRC champ, Colin McRae (Nissan n°202) finished 6th. His partner Ari Vatanen (N°205) had to stop to repair tyres and cope with an inflation problem. At the end of the day, the Finn lost over 39min on Peterhansel, possible eliminating his chances for an overall win in the Rally. Jean-louis Schlesser and Josep maria Servia in the Schlesser-Ford buggies, are 6th and 10th. Jutta Kleinschmidt, in the VW Toureg, is 12th, just 23 min behind Peterhansel. Mark Miller, from Carefree, Arizona, driving for the Pro-System/GM Racing team in a GM-powered Chevrolet Protruck, is 21st, 44 min behind the leader. Hiroshi Masuoka: "It was an easy special. We went through all the situations the Dakar can offer : sand, wind, rocks. I went carefully and only drove at 50% of my possibility. The result is due to the excellent car. I'll try to have the same kind of special tomorrow." Tomorrows 6th stage is a tough piece of work for the drivers. It leads towards the Atlantic coast to Tan Tan. Starting at 4:25 am with a liaison of 176 km, then the special of 351kms, with much dust, and then a final liaison of 276kms, 800 km (480 miles) altogether. The stage includes high-speed and mountains in the first part which change into a rock invested track in the second part. First priority is to concentrate highly in order to avoid any dangerous crashes. Tom Warr [/QUOTE]
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General Moto | Off-Topic Posts
Dakar has started...Yam 450 2 wheel in first!!
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