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 | Dakar Rally 2013: Dessoude Buggy Juke stays close to the overall top 10.
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Even more demanding and intense, this fourth stage between Arequipa and Nazca was a hard time for competitors. Despite many difficulties along the route and a few fears, once again, the Juke Buggy of Christian Lavieille and Jean-Michel Polato stays close to the bests with a superb 13th fastest time.
Unfortunately, the second Juke, driven by Stéphane Wintenberger, took off on a dune and landed quite harshly. If the driver is not injured, doctors preferred to evacuate Thierry Delli-Zotti to the medical PC for a check-up.
Yves Tartarin and Christian Poirault have fulfilled their mission again - crossing the finish line. Without any pressure, the crew ends at 41st position overall. For Frederic Chavigny and Guy Leneveu, this stage was gruelling. By crossing ergs and chains of dunes, that stage was not really a great pleasure for the crew of Proto Atacama but what a satisfaction to cross the finish line.
After a great performance yesterday in the third stage, the crew of the Buggy Juke #318 was not unworthy. Christian Lavieille and Jean-Michel Polato spared no effort to keep pace despite some small incidents.
"Until km 80, everything was for the best and crossings were no problem. But then we had some great fears. We first had a puncture by hitting a stone hidden in the fesh-fesh. At that moment, we lost the clutch command. A little further, the diesel pressure indicator was on warning. At about 180 km from the finish, we had a new puncture and after changing the wheel, no more spare wheels" Lavieille reported.
"Finally, in the last few kilometers, we had a drop in pressure of the turbo. It was time for the stage to be finished! But, despite these small problems, we arrived and, in addition, with a fairly good time, on what we can consider as one of the most difficult stage of the rally. Tomorrow, the stage does not seem easier with the added bonus of more fesh-fesh."
The crew of the Buggy #385 had a busy day but finished in fine style this crazy stage. Christian Poirault, co-driver for Yves Tartarin, comes back on this "real Dakar stage."
"One more! It was a pure Dakar stage. One of those we will remember. Until km 75, the dunes were difficult and we lost our way several times. It was not obvious at all! The biggest problem was the inflation-deflation system on the right rear wheel. We drove two-thirds of the stage with 600g in the tire, that’s why we chose to take a safe pace until the finish. We stopped twice, once we were stuck in the fesh-fesh and once for a broken strap. Anyway, we are very happy to be here!"
For Frédéric Chavigny and Guy Leneveu, the Dakar today was not "a long calm river". Stuck at the beginning of the route through chains of dunes, the crew lost a lot of time on this first sector. After struggling to progress on each kilometer, the crew managed to get out of this hell.
2013/01/09 | 16:59 CET | ARTICLE: MR/HS/DESSOUDE
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