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 | OiLibya Rally of Tunisia: "Best possible Way" for Team Dessoude on SS03.
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Team Dessoude finished this third stage of the Rally of Tunisia in the best possible way. Second in wednesday’s stage and once again in the lead of the overall classification, Christian Lavieille, Jean-Michel Polato and their Dessoude Proto are definitely setting the pace.
While Leonid Novitskiy in his X-Raid BMW X3CC lost almost 50 minutes "gardening", Christian Lavieille took the opportunity to regain the advantage. It is now Jean-Louis Schlesser, the stage winner, who is chasing the team from Saint-Lô, currently around 4 minutes behind. The race can easily change from one moment to the next, as proved today.
The driver from the Var make the most of the situation while setting an extremely high pace: "We started well, following a good rhythm, but after eight kilometres, in a dip, we broke a rim. We changed the wheel and set off on the attack. We noticed that Novikskiy was lost, and then saw him go off in the wrong direction. Visibility was very bad due to the strong sand winds, and to complicate matters, the navigation was rather difficult" Lavieille told.
"As usual, Jean-Michel was excellent" he added. "He did not make any mistakes. By the end of the stage, you needed a lot of patience. We are obviously satisfied with our position, but the rally is far from over."
Laurent Rosso and Bernard Irissou, leading the Production category, were also very fast and managed to put some more distance between themselves and their nearest rivals: "I decided to pick up the pace a bit today, in order to pull out a lead. There have still been no dunes to cross, and that’s where I will play my joker. The sand storm was terrible, immediately covering up the tracks. Bernard didn’t make any mistakes and was fully concentrated from start to finish."
The second Team Dessoude T2 vehicle, the Patrol driven by Joseph Rosso and Guy Leneveu was unlucky today. However, despite losing their way, they still managed to keep second position in the classification. It was a perfect day for the duo of Georges Macon (behind the wheel today) and Laurent Levêque, doing a great job as navigator. No mistakes, and still delighted to be there.
André Dessoude is delighted with the results: "One man’s misfortune is another man’s luck. the BMW made a mistake and Christian is in the lead. A good driver, a good co-driver and a good car - the equation is perfect. Christian drove fast today, and Jean-Louis Schlesser really put the pressure on. We expected Laurent to lead T2 and he’s where we hoped. He did a good job over this stage. Joseph was a bit less lucky but he is still following his son in the overall classification of the category. I am very happy with George and Laurent, who did a very good job despite difficult conditions."
On Wednesday, the rally of Tunisia will head for Ksar Ghilane, an oasis in the middle of the dunes. The day’s programme includes a 280-km special stage, where Laurent Rosso should at last find some dunes to cross.
2010/05/06 | 10:07 CET | ARTICLE: MR/HS/ARPIZOU
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