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 | SA-Dakar Rally: After the bad stage 3 - Team Dessoude is attacking again.
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After tuesday’s disappointment, Team Dessoude is on the attack after SS04 on Wednesday. It were the prototypes of the Chinese Jihong Zhou and the French Frédéric Chavigny, which distinguished themselves, gaining four and 17 places in the overall classification respectively.
As for the Buggies, they suffered a number of punctures, but the Team Dessoude crews are ready for the next special stages, which are both formidable and feared.
Reading through the description of the coming stages, André Dessoude knows that the elimination phase of the event is about to start: "Wednesday, and over the coming days, the Dakar is entering its most difficult section. The landscape is grandiose and desert-like; the thermometers are hitting 45°. The Dakar is likely to swallow up quite a few hopes and dreams."
"We are working actively on the vehicles, but also with the navigators, in order to find the best solutions to get through the difficulties. Wednesday, we were heading straight north, along the Andes, but due to the storms, the track was muddy, complicated and rough. Frédéric and Jihong have really got to grips with their prototypes and according to our game plan, have progressively increased the pace."
"As far as the Buggies are concerned, we are keeping deliberately to a reasonable pace, which was rather disturbed by a series of punctures. But from tomorrow, another Dakar gets underway, and the gaps will begin to increase" the French teamchef Dessoude said.
A damp day for Isabelle Patissier, on tracks that were not really ideal for the Buggies: "A special stage divided into two: The first part was tricky due to the guadal, that very find sand, of a similar texture to flour, in which the cars can sink; we had a puncture, and then we stopped to help Thierry by giving him one of our spare wheels."
She added: "As for the second part, it was a real nightmare, crossing muddy streams. The buggy is now a mud bath, and I’m not really a fan of that sort of spa treatment. So this evening, we have to clean it out, and then rest in order to face tomorrow’s stage serenely."
Once again, the French duo Frédéric Chavigny and Jean Brucy made progress in the overall classification, jumping up 17 places today in their Dessoude Proto Atacama.
"An excellent day which will allow us to start in a good position tomorrow, to cross the white dunes. I like Fiamballa, and I hope it will like me. We will know rather quickly, and we will only talk about performance and classifications tomorrow evening. Before then, it’s time for rest and concentration."
Wednesday, it was the turn of Thierry Magnaldi and François Borsotto to have a bad day, despite having set off for a fine special stage with their Oryx Diesel Buggy.
"We began at a good pace, with the aim of finishing well, to have a good starting position for tomorrow. Unfortunately, we had three punctures today - the Buggies do not like rocks. Luckily, Isabelle stopped to give us a wheel, but we still finished the stage with a puncture. But tomorrow is another day, even if we would have preferred to start in a better position on the stage."
The Chinese Jihong Zhou probably put in the best performance among the Dessoude cars Wwednesday. The Chinese driver is now quite at ease with both the vehicle and the team.
"The car is very competitive and allows us to get out of all our mistakes. It should be remembered that this is our first time actually racing in the Dakar. Each day we discover something new, and everyone is talking about the white dunes we will cross tomorrow. I am waiting for that impatiently, but I have to admit to some fear."
2012/01/05 | 14:32 CET | ARTICLE: MR/SY/DESSOUDE
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