Dakar
Dakar: Repsol teams stage one report
First Race Kilometres For The Repsol Drivers and Riders The first stage of the rally was held today, starting and arriving in Barcelona The first six timed kilometres of the Dakar 2005 were raced today at the beaches of Castelldefels, nearby ...
Edited: Jan 3, 2005, 10:01 AM
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First Race Kilometres For The Repsol Drivers and Riders
The first stage of the rally was held today, starting and arriving in Barcelona
The first six timed kilometres of the Dakar 2005 were raced today at the beaches of Castelldefels, nearby Barcelona. Drivers and riders were joined along the route by splendid weather and several thousands of fans who came out to witness the first special stage of the rally.
No big news for motorbikes and cars, except for a clutch problem in Giovanni Sala's bike. The Italian rider was helped by his team-mates Isidre Esteve and Marc Coma and he's been able to continue in the race, however with a penalty.
David Fretigne in motorbikes and Robby Gordon in cars were the fastest on the short route of the first stage and after returning to the parc fermé located on the Avenida María Cristina in Barcelona, all participants are now ready for the official start tomorrow at ten o'clock in the morning. They will be heading to Granada, to race the second special stage. It will be the last one in Spain before leaving for Africa. As regards the Repsol riders, Isidre Esteve finished 11th, Marc Coma 12th, Jordi Durán 14th and Giovanni Sala 183th due to the mechanical problem.
In the car class, Masuoka was 2nd, Alphand 5th, Peterhansel 9th, Mayer 15th and Roma 23rd after his first contact in race with his new Mitsubishi.
Isidre Esteve: "Today has been a day for all fans to enjoy and it's been great to see the many thousands of people watching the special. I think they have all enjoyed and that means that we fulfilled our mission".
Marc Coma: "The condition of the terrain was worse than expected and therefore we were forced to ride very carefully. The bikes worked perfectly well and we only had to help Gio who had a problem with the clutch "
Jordi Durán: "It's been a good debut in the Dakar with the team and everything worked out perfectly well. I'm very satisfied with the result and looking forward to reaching Africa ".
Nani Roma: "This has been a completely new experience for me. Driving with the car on sand was something yet unknown and I even followed some typically motorbike racing lines trying to avoid grooves. Peterhansel explained to me that it is exactly the contrary, that it's on wheel tracks were the car works better!".
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