Dakar Rally: Joan Roma takes lead in Africa

ER RACHIDIA, Morocco – Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart team driver Joan ‘Nani’ Roma and co-driver Henri Magne set the sixth fastest time in the first African stage of this year’s Dakar Rally between Nador and Er Rachidia in Morocco.

They now hold the outright lead in the overall classification. Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and French co-driver Alain Guehennec continued to shine for the X-Raid team as the competitors completed the first African special stage — a punishing 314km special between Nador and Er Rachidia on Tuesday.Al Attiyah had started from eighth position in the overall standings and was third on the road yesterday morning, sandwiched between the leading Mitsubishis of Luc Alphand and Joan Roma.He was running inside the top six through the opening passage control and rocked the establishment by being the first driver to appear at the second passage control with the stage victory at his disposal.He eventually finished tenth overall and slipped to eleventh place in the overall standings.Capping a successful day for the Mitsubishi Motors team, Japan’s Hiroshi Masuoka and French co-driver Pascal Maimon set the outright second fastest time in a second Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution behind French stage winner Jean-Louis Schlesser.Team mates Stéphane Peterhansel and Luc Alphand completed the stage in third and tenth places respectively and now hold sixth and ninth in the overall classification.Tuesday’s 314km stage offered a mixture of twisty gravel tracks, technical off-road sections, the occasional perilous wadi crossing and some navigation.It finished at Beni Tadjite, 121km from the overnight bivouac, adjacent to the small elevated airstrip at Er Rachidia.Masuoka and French co-driver Maimon, with whom he won the Dakar Rally for the first time in 2002, held third overall through the opening passage control at the 122km point in the morning, but were the first car across the finish line after starting sixth on the road.Yesterday was the longest special stage of the event so far, starting 56km from Er Rachidia, north of Erfoud, and finishing 197km from Ouarzazate, near the town of Tagounite.The 386km special offers a fine balance of twisty and rocky tracks, high-speed roads, laterite piste and stretches of treacherous sand.Roma came into the stage in third place and took the lead after a finish of sixth.Carlos Sainz of Spain wound up twelfth and dropped from first to fourth in the standings.The Dakar event covers 9042km on a route through 40 countries from Lisbon, Portugal, to the Senegalese capital.Meanwhile in the motorbike section, with KTM machinery holding the first six places in the event and 15 of the top 17 positions, the 2006 Dakar Rally is already shaping as “which KTM rider?” rather than “which machine?” Yesterday’s stage, the first in Africa, was long and fast.Not the two transfer sections of 237 and 121km, but mainly the special test of 312km.The riders encountered many changes of direction, and they had to face a speed limit monitor for the first time.”For me it was an annoying stage”, said the new race leader, Gauloises KTM Team member Cyril Despres.”Because of a new instrument installed on our console that we have to check continuously.The new rule of the Dakar imposes a speed limit of 160 km/h (about 100 miles per hour), and a monitor connected with the GPS warns us when we are reaching this limit.Unfortunately it is the same alarm as the overtake warning, with the same beep.”So with this new entertainment we are obliged to drive and open the gas intermittently.In addition I had a little problem with the bolts of the instrumentations, and the traditional stony tracks of Morocco completed the menu.Anyway I finished third and I reached the finish in first overall and I am in the game.This is the most important thing.”Despres’ main protagonists were the two Andy’s: Caldecott and Grider.Australian Andy Caldecott won the stage, and American Andy Grider was second.”Too many rocks and stones everywhere, then many changes of direction”, said the Australian.”I am used to being fast when the track is fast, and I like large open spaces”.For Andy Grider, the first African stage of the rally was also the first African stage of his career, as he is a Dakar debutant.”Everything was new for me,” said the member of the Red Bull KTM Team.-NampaQatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah and French co-driver Alain Guehennec continued to shine for the X-Raid team as the competitors completed the first African special stage — a punishing 314km special between Nador and Er Rachidia on Tuesday.Al Attiyah had started from eighth position in the overall standings and was third on the road yesterday morning, sandwiched between the leading Mitsubishis of Luc Alphand and Joan Roma.He was running inside the top six through the opening passage control and rocked the establishment by being the first driver to appear at the second passage control with the stage victory at his disposal.He eventually finished tenth overall and slipped to eleventh place in the overall standings.Capping a successful day for the Mitsubishi Motors team, Japan’s Hiroshi Masuoka and French co-driver Pascal Maimon set the outright second fastest time in a second Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution behind French stage winner Jean-Louis Schlesser.Team mates Stéphane Peterhansel and Luc Alphand completed the stage in third and tenth places respectively and now hold sixth and ninth in the overall classification.Tuesday’s 314km stage offered a mixture of twisty gravel tracks, technical off-road sections, the occasional perilous wadi crossing and some navigation.It finished at Beni Tadjite, 121km from the overnight bivouac, adjacent to the small elevated airstrip at Er Rachidia.Masuoka and French co-driver Maimon, with whom he won the Dakar Rally for the first time in 2002, held third overall through the opening passage control at the 122km point in the morning, but were the first car across the finish line after starting sixth on the road.Yesterday was the longest special stage of the event so far, starting 56km from Er Rachidia, north of Erfoud, and finishing 197km from Ouarzazate, near the town of Tagounite.The 386km special offers a fine balance of twisty and rocky tracks, high-speed roads, laterite piste and stretches of treacherous sand.Roma came into the stage in third place and took the lead after a finish of sixth.Carlos Sainz of Spain wound up twelfth and dropped from first to fourth in the standings.The Dakar event covers 9042km on a route through 40 countries from Lisbon, Portugal, to the Senegalese capital.Meanwhile in the motorbike section, with KTM machinery holding the first six places in the event and 15 of the top 17 positions, the 2006 Dakar Rally is already shaping as “which KTM rider?” rather than “which machine?” Yesterday’s stage, the first in Africa, was long and fast.Not the two transfer sections of 237 and 121km, but mainly the special test of 312km.The riders encountered many changes of direction, and they had to face a speed limit monitor for the first time.”For me it was an annoying stage”, said the new race leader, Gauloises KTM Team member Cyril Despres.”Because of a new instrument installed on our console that we have to check continuously.The new rule of the Dakar imposes a speed limit of 160 km/h (about 100 miles per hour), and a monitor connected with the GPS warns us when we are reaching this limit.Unfortunately it is the same alarm as the overtake warning, with the same beep.”So with this new entertainment we are obliged to drive and open the gas intermittently.In addition I had a little problem with the bolts of the instrumentations, and the traditional stony tracks of Morocco completed the menu.Anyway I finished third and I reached the finish in first overall and I am in the game.This is the most important thing.”Despres’ main protagonists were the two Andy’s: Caldecott and Grider.Australian Andy Caldecott won the stage, and American Andy Grider was second.”Too many rocks and stones everywhere, then many changes of direction”, said the Australian.”I am used to being fast when the track is fast, and I like large open spaces”.For Andy Grider, the first African stage of the rally was also the first African stage of his career, as he is a Dakar debutant.”Everything was new for me,” said the member of the Red Bull KTM Team.-Nampa