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Orpi Maroc 2006 Special-Newssection
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This is the single-news section of the
marathonrally.com rally-live special of the Orpi Maroc rally 2006.
To see all news please use the link under the article or navigate
with the left main-navigation.
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Orpi Maroc: Three Nissan in the lead of the Production category.
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The fourth leg of the Orpi Morocco Rally, between Erfoud and Zagora, allowed Team Nissan Aventure to pull out a healthy lead in the Production category. Three Nissan vehicles are currently dominating T2. Christian Lavieille and Arnaud Debron have a strong grasp on first place. Thomas Loussier/Fred Vivier and Stéphane Wintenberger/Mathieu Baumel make up the rest of the "three musketeers", in second and third positions. Within Team Dessoude, they take teamwork seriously.
Since the start of the event, this is the first day where just one special stage was on the schedule. 243 km long, it took the competitors from Erfoud to Zagora. A special stage with alternating fast and rough sections. Over this varied terrain, Christian Lavieille set the best time in Production, ahead of his team-mate Stéphane Wintenberger. In the overall classification, there are now three Team Dessoude Nissan Pathfinder vehicles in the top three positions. Christian Lavieille has a lead of 17 minutes over Thomas Loussier and is 23 minutes ahead of Stéphane Wintenberger his "musketeers" in this race.
Christian is calm; he knows that the rally is far from over, but is working on his race management: "After 27 km, we overtook Thomas (Loussier) who kindly let us through, and we found ourselves behind Pascal Thomasse. We followed him for around 50 kilometres, going slowly as there was so much dust. Before attacking a small mountain pass, he stopped when his rear boot suddenly flew open. We overtook him and finished the stage calmly. The Pathfinder was super, no problems at all. I preferred to keep the pace down, as I didn´t want any punctures on the rocky sections. We will try to keep our lead while taking care of the car."
On Saturday there was no real need of Arnaud Debron´s experience. "There was no navigation needed on this stage. We kept a good pace, but Christian was a bit worried about punctures, and chose to opt for safety. It didn´t prevent us from setting the best time. Thanks to Thomas (Loussier) and Fred (Vivier) who let us through when we caught up with them. It´s great to do a team race with three competitive cars."
A real team effort is now centered around Christian Lavieille. The "threat" of Antoine Maze Sencier has been neutralised for the moment, and the two other Team Dessoude drivers have chosen to support their friend and class leader while having fun.
Thomas Loussier set off this morning ahead of Christian and did not think twice when the former MotorbikeEndurance World Champion caught up with him : "When I saw Christian come up behind us, which I was expecting, I pulled to the right to let him through. I´ve been having great fun since the start of this rally, which is my first, and the atmosphere in the team is excellent. It is a really great experience."
Just like Thomas, Stéphane Wintenberger is taking part in his first rally-raid. He is sharing the cockpit of his Pathfinder with young Mathieu Baumel (who usually navigates for Guerlain Chicherit). Enthusiastic and always smiling, he is savouring this third position in Production : "I have an extraordinary co-driver. He sets the pace in the car, and helps me to improve in each stage. The Pathfinder behaves very well, and has proved to be great fun to driver. Moreover, this third position in the category is a real pleasure for me."
2006/06/04 I 17:10 CET I Editor: marathonrally.com/Dessoude
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