Dakar
Dakar: Nissan stage 15 report
Third stage win for Ari Vatanen and the Nissan Pickup... The second GPS-free stage of the 2003 Dakar ! Leaving Luxor this morning, the competitors drove through to Abu Rish, an immense desert area situated on a rocky plateau, between the ...
Edited: Jan 21, 2003, 2:54 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Third stage win for Ari Vatanen and the Nissan Pickup...
The second GPS-free stage of the 2003 Dakar ! Leaving Luxor this morning, the competitors drove through to Abu Rish, an immense desert area situated on a rocky plateau, between the Nile valley and the Suez Canal.
The special stage followed a well-marked trail, quite fast, with alternating sandy and rocky sections. There were plenty of changes of direction, and the main difficulty lay in choosing the best path. With plenty of emphasis on driving, with a definite advantage for those drivers with experience in traditional rallies, this stage saw Ari Vatanen take his third win, bringing his overall Dakar score to 48...
Jacky Bourgin and G?rard Ancement.
Photo by Nissan Europe.
Extremely disappointed with yesterday's performance, when he thought he could have won, Ari Vatenen lived up to his reputation as a great fighter today : " It was great ! But I still need two wins to get my score up to 50 stage victories ... I didn't have too much to do today, I was bored, so I pushed hard ... all day long. No punctures, I had great fun, and I got my reward after my disappointment yesterday. I really thought I could have won, but from a sporting point of view, I think that Luc Alphand's win was an excellent thing ! We are all taking turns ! Last night, my back was hurting so much that I was really questioning whether I could take the start. Would I be able to drive ? But as soon as I got up it was a lot better, and as we went along I felt that we were really on the pace. Another real special stage tomorrow, we will do our best..."
Calm and serene, Tina Thorner, Ari's co-driver, also appeared to enjoy the stage: " The day went well. No problems and no punctures ! We found our way without difficulties ... it was quite fast, and we soon realised that we were going well. The dust was one of the real problems today. "
Giniel de Villiers, 3rd in today's stage, was like yesterday slightly disappointed to be once more deprived of the win: " I am disappointed...Once more, we had two punctures, just like yesterday and the day before. The first happened before the first checkpoint, and the second before the CP3. But all in all, it was a good stage, with some good driving. We attacked from the start, but we lost quite a lot of time due to the punctures. The car behaved beautifully. I am slightly closer to Sousa, but I am afraid that it will not be enough. Another great stage tomorrow, and perhaps at last a chance at a stage win... "
Pascal Maimon, Giniel's co-driver, gave some further information : " We started out with the intention of pushing hard, like yesterday. 40 km into the stage we gave ourselves a big fright, the car took off on an uphill step (we had cut the track slightly to overtake a motorbike), we flew about 3 metres into the air, and the first part of the car to hit the ground was the left rear wing ... a bit like a fighter plane ... Then Giniel got the right rhythm going, but unfortunately we got a puncture 100 km into the stage. We overtook Jean-Pierre (Fontenay) who had two punctures, we overtook Luc (Alphand). Then we got a second puncture, at the left rear, in a long straight section. Biasion came past us, Jean-Pierre got back ahead, and we finished 3rd. Without those two punctures we would undoubtedly have finished second."
Thierry de Lavergne was full of smiles today, extremely pleased with his day, which saw him finish in 8th place on the stage : "Quite frankly, I am delighted today. The car went superbly, and we found the right set-up. It has taken some time ! In the dunes, it was not really possible to set the car up precisely. The sensations are not the same. When the terrain is broken, however, it is ideal to sort out the car. The engine is going well, just a few worries about the brakes. The stage was very fast, and a bit broken. Jacky (Dubois) was, as usual, excellent, unfortunately ! (he laughs). This time I followed his instructions word for word, even before he finished talking, I was already off ! After which, he asked me not to do too much !!! "
And what did Jacky Dubois have to say ? " Today, he listened to me ... two days ago, Thierry really annoyed me ... 6 km pointing him in a direction that he did not want to follow -- that can really get on your nerves ! Today's stage was quite 'cool' as far as the navigation goes. I looked carefully at the maps yesterday evening, so I knew that we were basically navigating down a big valley. It was a good stage, it was quite fun ! The car was great. My suggestion is that the rally should start tomorrow ! We forget everything and start again ... We will try to break into the top ten, but it will not be easy...
In the Production category, Jean-Pierre Strugo still has a good lead. Paul Belmondo, after an extremely consistent race, is currently in 3rd place in his category and 20th overall. Too far back to catch Strugo, his main wish is to get to Sharm el Sheikh.
As for Yves Loubet, whose fortunes had taken a turn for the better over the last few days, yesterday was another nightmare. Stuck at the 200 km mark, slightly over 70 km from the finish, Yves could only diagnose a third broken stub axle on his Terrano. He waited all night in the cold, with not a single assistance truck passing by .. Missing the start of today's special, he was forced to retire. Beaten, Yves has found his fate hard to accept. The 'Corsican' will soon be back on the tracks of Africa...
Tomorrow will be another 'real' day. No fewer than 828 km have to be covered, including a 365 km special stage, with, at the end...Sharm el Sheikh. The 413 km liaison stage will start tomorrow morning ... at 2 am...
-nissan-
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Dakar Cars overall standings after stage 13
Next article Dakar Motobikes overall standings after stage 15
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Paul Belmondo
Le Mans Classic: 7 Former winners for the 7th event
WEC
WEC
Le Mans Classic: 7 Former winners for the 7th event
Le Mans Classic: 7th Edition, high in the sky!
WEC
WEC
Le Mans Classic: 7th Edition, high in the sky!
Nico Müller triumphs at Monaco
Formula V8 3.5
Formula V8 3.5
Nico Müller triumphs at Monaco
Latest news
Tom Cruise interested in racing ARCA car, per NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
18 min
Tom Cruise interested in racing ARCA car, per NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell
Gibbs, Spire and Gabehart argue over contempt and injunction
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
3 h
Gibbs, Spire and Gabehart argue over contempt and injunction
William Byron to run Jeff Gordon throwback Axalta scheme at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
3 h
William Byron to run Jeff Gordon throwback Axalta scheme at Phoenix
Alexander Rossi takes over IR-28 testing as IndyCar pushes new chassis to the limit at Sebring
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 3 h
Alexander Rossi takes over IR-28 testing as IndyCar pushes new chassis to the limit at Sebring
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe