Dakar: Stage 11 Sarir - Siwa quotes

MOTOBIKES

Fabrizio Meoni (KTM - n.1)
1st of the special, 3rd overall
"Yesterday was a lot faster than today. I will do the maximum every day. Maybe not to be part of the battle for leadership but to be well present in the race. It was a good special. It's good to go quickly. In the last part, I lost a bit of time losing myself. I lost about 2 minutes. I went full speed on the special. The bike was working well as usual. Yesterday, it was the first time in two years I broke down. Not completey because I finished on one cylinder. And it happened on the worst day. That's life. I'm not as happy as expected. I thought I would make it to the rest day in position to win the rally and prepare the decisive week in excellent condition. Now everything has changed. There are no more tactics. I have to do the maximum every day. Maybe there's a chance, but it's very difficult. It all depends on the course."

Richard Sainct (KTM - n.3)
2nd of the special, 1st overall
"It's a logical result. I'm not disappointed at all. It was a very fast stage. I caught up two bikers who were in front of me and finished the special with them. It doesn't really matter if Meoni's won 10 minutes on me today. Just as long as everything goes well for me, I can control the race. All the days look alike but are very important. I'm not telling myself that I have won the rally and remain well focused. I don't want to put any pressure on myself."

Cyril Despres (KTM - n.7)
3rd of the special, 2nd overall
"Since the 1st of January, the race has been long and tiring. It's important now to take some time to rest. All is still going well for me. There still is about 3000kms left so it'll be important to be careful until Sharm El Sheikh. You have to stay careful and see in what stages you can attack. You never know what the race can become, everything is possible."

PG Lundmark (KTM - n.16)
4th of the special, 7th overall
"I was taking it slowly and Despres caught up wih me. I drove like a chicken behind him. He took all the risks and I just stayed behind. I was like a back-pack for him all day. I never tried to push because he was too fast for me. Thirty kms from the end Sainct caught us up and I saw that Despres slowed down a lot. It's a good day for me but I don't deserve it. To finish in the top 5? I think I'm too far behind. I would need someone to have a problem and not me. I don't think I can catch the time to the fifth place, not by myself. I'm very impressed by Fabrizio. He drove like a bullit today. I think that when it's Meoni, you never know. He's definitely the best driver in the competition. Maybe he can do it. He's a very good navigator too. It's going to be tough for him because Sainct is a very clever guy."

CARS

Stephane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi - n.206)
1st of the special, 1st overall
"We are now back in the same position as two days ago. We are going to be able to spend the rest day in relaxed fashion. The battle will resume in two days. With Hiroshi (Masuoka), it isn't easy to make big time differences. Therefore, every second won is important and even air pressure in a tyre can have its importance on the way to a possible victory."

Hiroshi Masuoka (Mitsubishi - n.200)
3rd of the special, 2nd overall
"Today was a very fast and enjoyable stage. Nothing special to say today. Tomorrow, I will think of a strategy for the last week. I believe I can beat Peterhansel on any kind of terrain. The car works well. I might well attack on Tuesday. I don't know, we'll see."

Matthew Stevenson (BMW - n.221) co-driver
2nd of the special, 16th overall
"It was long and fast. No problems at all. A good tyre choice today. We went for sand tires while the others where on rock tyres. We're here to help out Gregoire (De Mevius) so we took it easy and finished second. We overtook quite a few cars but in the dunes, it's not a problem. It's wide and open. Luc (Alphand) is cool and has a great spirit. It's good to drive with him. Now we want to get the car as close to the front as we can. Be conservative and win a stage. We work as a team and the goal is to get the best car as high as possible. If Gregoire has mechanical or tyre problems we'll stopped to help him."

Gregoire De Mevius (BMW - n.205)
9th of the special, 3rd overall
"Luc made a different choice of tyres compared to me. A good decision because it went well for him. Today it was psychologically important to win time on Fontenay to reassure ourselves because I believe we are faster than the old version of the Pajero. I don't know what kind of team strategy the Mitsubishis will chose. The pressure is on my shoulders. Due to the fact I'm between Mitsubishi vehicles, I suppose they will have to take it easy. Third is a good position, Better than we expected."

-aso-