|
 | Silk Way Rally: The review of André Dessoude - new future plans of the team.
|
At the end of this third Silk Way Rally, "Team Dessoude"-boss André Dessoude wishes to review this crazy week of racing in the heart of Russia. Highlight of the 2011 edition, a new victory in the T2 category for Team Dessoude and duo Frédéric Chavigny-Jean Brucy, eighth overall.
Other satisfaction, the 13th place of Zhou Ji-Hong and Jean-Pierre Garcin. The Chinese driver discovered the real difficulties of a cross-country rally and quickly adapted to the pace and terrain, thanks to the experience of his co-driver. The new Buggy Oryx, driven by Christian Lavieille and Jean-Michel Polato, showed its potential by playing a key role on the first stages before being disqualified in the fourth leg (too many missing waypoints).
André Dessoude: "I am very happy with the results of Frederic Chavigny and Jean Brucy. They made a almost without fail race and have managed ideally their positions overall and leading the T2. This win is well deserved. "Concerning the debuts of Zhou Ji-Hong on such a race with a high-performance car, I must admit that the target was very high. The experience of competition he had in China is very different from these conditions, either in terrain or car. In a few days, he made great progress with Jean-Pierre (Garcin), but he still needs to race before the Dakar. His 13th place overall is nevertheless a good thing."
Team Dessoude entered this race with the new version of Buggy Oryx, driven by Christian Lavieille and Jean-Michel Polato. "Regarding the car, I'm not disappointed because the first experience with the new engine has been positive. I’m disappointed with the conditions of the early retirement of the car because we still had plenty to do. The results on the first stages confirmed that the car is efficient. We did a lot of work before and during the Silk Way. Improvements on engine cooling, brakes and suspensions were profitable."
"The goal is to make two buggies to be rented on next Dakar. Lightweight and efficient with a reasonable operating costs and led by a good driver, the Oryx can make good things. The whole team was involved in this project to make an attractive and powerful vehicle. Next step, a few changes on the body."
Regarding the rest of Team Dessoude program, the "wizard of St-Lô" announced some changes. "Frédéric Chavigny will have a new car on the next Dakar. He will drive a Mitsubishi pickup. A real racing car made in Brazil by Spinelli at a very reasonable cost. It’s a base of L200 with independent wheel and suspension. A high performance T1 positioned between T2 and the best T1. A vehicle that should be perfect for Frederic. For Christian (Lavieille), we are negotiating a high performance car equipped with a Nissan engine. But I'll tell you more in a while."
Next race for Team Dessoude should be Egypt with the Pharaohs Rally. _"We should have five or six cars to the Pharaohs rally. We will have three Nissan Pathfinder T2 driven by Italian crews, a Pathfinder T1, probably Buggy Oryx and if he can be professionally free, Frederic Chavigny driving his new car."
2011/07/20 | 14:19 CET | ARTICLE: MR/SY/ARPIZOU
|
|
