ETAPE DU JOUR
Informations & sum up of the stage
INTERVIEWS
Cars
Orlando Terranova (Arg/BMW X3) : Navigation was not easy between control point 1 and control point 2. Once you are off track it’s not easy to open the way. But we were adamant in proving our leader position today, even if we are still only half way in the race. The road to Djerba is still a long one so we have to be prudent as anything could happen”
Krzysztof Holowczyc (Pol/Nissan Pickup) : «No major concerns today, but we had a scary episode clearing a high dune : as we landed heavily, without the slope behind we would have certainly rolled over”
Jose Luis Monterde (Esp/Buggy Schlesser) : « Apart from a slight navigation hesitation we had a perfect run today. At these kinds of speeds a mistake is quickly made and heavy in consequences. Decisions have to be made in fractions of seconds, we did well today”.
Eric Vigouroux (Fra/Trophy Truck Chevrolet) : «Beautiful special, very testing. Coming down a 300 m dune at 160 KM an hour, we hit hard, the G forces were tremendous, and the impact bent the front of the car. We narrowly missed a palm tree, and could have been stuck for a long time”.
Bikes
Alex Anton (And/KTM 690) : «It’s my first African rally. In a previous life I was a world cup skier and participated in the winter Olympic games for Andorra. After Turin I decided to dedicate myself to my other passion: Motorbikes, in Encamps were I come from. It must come from my skiing experience but I feel very comfortable in the sloping dunes. I’m hooked and will certainly participate in more Rallies of this type”.
Thierry Bethys (Fra/Honda 450) : «A wicked special! No room for mistakes off track. After refuelling at control point 1, as I was followed closely on my left by Marchini I came down a high dune too fast and found myself letting go of the steering and head on the road book. I thought I was going to fly off. I quickly looked back and saw Michel; he flew off! He was concussed but he got it back together and we finished the special together. I was worried for him”.
Stan Watt (G-B/KTM 690) : «At last a great result on the Rallye de Tunisie. Two days ago I had such a great start but ended up loosing mysel. … I love these high speed sections as my bike really finds its rhythm, as was the case today. But I didn’t take too many risks, as in this terrain an accident can quickly happen”.
Many non-runners this morning in Idri, indeed the last stage was very tough.
The motorcycle N°10 of Ludivine PUY is down, she waits at CP1.
The first cars arrive at CP1.
Breakdown of N°38, Calum McKenzie at kilometre 91.
Charles Caron fell at kilometre 167, he suffers from a dislocated shoulder.
The first bikes arrives back at the bivouac.
N°101: mechanical breakdown at kilometre 315.
N°800: stuck at the top of a dune at kilometre 68.