Dakar: Stage 14 Tambacounda to Dakar notes

Tambacounda to Dakar
Connection: 124 km - Special: 225 km - Connection: 227 km
Total: 576 km

General:

05:35 - STAGE 14: TAMBACOUNDA - DAKAR
576 km, including 225 against the clock are on the menu for the 14th and penultimate stage. Once again, a very quick route awaits the competitors, which will please the rally drivers amongst them, even if this last genuine special stage will be difficult to navigate with, as is the tradition, an inextricable clutter of interwoven tracks. The Volkswagens will have one last shot at glory, whereas the Mitsubishis will focus on protecting their lead on the route to a glorious 7th consecutive success.

10:00 - START OF LIVE COVERAGE
Welcome to all. Winner of yesterday's 13th special stage and new leader in the overall rankings, Frenchman Cyril Despres was the first to get to grips with the day's special stage at 7h55 GMT as scheduled.

Bike:

11:12 - De Azevedo in the lead at CP1
Nr 5, JEAN DE AZEVEDO - KTM, SUPER PRODUCTION
As the first 30 bikes passed CP1 (km 114), Brazilian Jean De Azevedo was timed provisional leader of the day's special stage, 3'03 ahead of Portuguese Helder Rodrigues and 3'32 ahead of Latvian Janis Vinters.

11:40 - Blondel doing repairs...
Nr 83, GREGOIRE BLONDEL - HONDA, SUPER PRODUCTION
Victim of a mechanical problem at km 111, French biker Gregoire Blondel is now stopped off trail and tries to repair to get back to the normal course of the stage.

Car:

11:42 - It's a go for cars...
Nr 303, SAINZ/PERIN - VOLKSWAGEN, SUPER PRODUCTION
Winner yesterday of his 4th special stage in this 2006 edition, Spaniard Carlos Sainz was the first to get to grips with the 14th special stage at 9H46 GMT.

Bike:

12:04 - De Azevedo provisional winner of the special stage
Nr 5, JEAN DE AZEVEDO - KTM, SUPER PRODUCTION
As the first 5 bikes have now reached the end of the 14th special stage, Brazilian Jean De Azevedo seems to be getting his 2nd stage victory on the Dakar, the first one in this year's edition, 5'05 ahead of Latvian Janis Vinters and 5'12 ahead of US biker Chris Blais.

12:23 - Sousa in the lead at CP1
Nr 313, SOUSA/SCHULZ - VOLKSWAGEN, SUPER PRODUCTION
As the first 5 cars passed CP1 (km 114), Portuguese Carlos Sousa was provisionally timed in the lead of the day's special stage, 40" ahead of his teammate American Mark miller and 1'12 ahead of his Spanish teammate Carlos Sainz. It is to be noted that Frenchman Luc Alphand, 2nd in the overall rankings, took back 3'45 to rally leader and teammate Stephane Peterhansel during the first part of the stage.

13:38 - Sainz provisional winner again
Nr 303, SAINZ/PERIN - VOLKSWAGEN, SUPER PRODUCTION
As the first 5 cars have now reached the end of this 14th special stage, Spaniard Carlos Sainz seems to be getting his 5th stage victory in this 29th Dakar, 45" ahead of his Portuguese teammate Carlos Sousa and 2'02 in front of his US teammate Mark Miller. It is to be noted that Frenchman Luc Alphand, 2nd in the overall rankings, only gained 1'36 back on rally leader Stephane Peterhansel who's also his teammate.

13:54 - De Villiers second at finish
Nr 301, DE VILLIERS/VON ZITZEWITZ - VOLKSWAGEN, SUPER PRODUCTION
The first 10 cars have now reached the end of this 14th special stage and South-African Giniel De Villiers has been provisionally timed second of the stage 7" behind provisional winner and teammate Carlos Sainz, but 38" ahead of his US teammate Mark Miller, now 3rd.

Truck:

14:21 - Jacquot in the lead at CP1
Nr 508, JACQUOT/ALCARAZ/VAN GENUGTEN - MAN
As the first 30 trucks passed CP1 (km 114), Frenchman Francais Philippe Jacquot was provisionally in the lead of the day's special stage, 3'45 ahead of Ales Loprais and 3'53 ahead of Brazilian Andre De Azevedo.

15:17 - First stage victory for Jacquot
Nr 508, JACQUOT/ALCARAZ/VAN GENUGTEN - MAN
As the first 10 trucks have now reached the end of the day's 14th special stage, Frenchman Philippe Jacquot would seem to be getting his first stage victory on the Dakar, 4'33 in front of Czech Ales Loprais and 9'32 in front of Brazilian Andre De Azevedo.

Bike:

16:49 - Summary of stage 14
Pending validation, Brazilian Jean De Azevedo (KTM) won his second stage victory of his Dakar career with a scratch time of 2h37'46; this is his first victory this year, 2'05 ahead of Poland's Jacek Czachor (KTM) and 5'05 in front of Latvian Janis Vinters, who wins the stage in the marathon category. In the overall rankings, Frenchman Cyril Despres (KTM), 5th today, now has 36'09 lead on his teammate and countryman. On the 450cc side, Portuguese Paulo Goncalves (Honda) wins with 7th scratch time. Finally in the quad category, Spain's Jose Maria Pena (KTM) wins the stage.

Car:

16:53 - Summary of stage 14
Pending validation, Spaniard Carlos Sainz (VW) gets his 9th scratch time victory on the Dakar, his fifth this year, in 2h 21'02, 7" ahead of his South-African teammate Giniel de Villiers (VW) and 45" ahead of his Portuguese teammate Carlos Sousa (VW). In the overall rankings, Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel (Mitsu), 11th today, remains of course in the lead with now 7'16 lead over teammate Luc Alphand (Mitsu). In the open category, US driver Robby Gordon (Hummer) wins with a 5th scratch timed position. In the two-wheel drive category, victory goes to Frenchman Jean-Louis Schlesser (Buggy Schlesser), who gets the 9th scratch time. Finally in the production category, Spain's Xavier Foj (Toyota) wins the stage.

Truck:

16:55 - Summary of stage 14
Pending validation, Frenchman Philippe Jacquot (Man) gets his first victory in a special stage of the Dakar in 2h53'44, 4'33 ahead of Czech Ales Loprais (Tatra) and 9'32 ahead of Brazilian Andre De Azevedo (Tatra). In the overall rankings, Dutchman Hans Stacey (Man), 4th today, is more than ever the leader with 3h08'15 lead over Russian Ilgizar Mardeev.

General:

17:43 - 301 vehicles made it through the day's special stage
At 16h30 GMT, 133 bikes, 109 cars and 58 trucks had made it through the 14th special stage and were on their way to or had already arrived at the Dakar lock park, the finishing point of this 14th special stage. Only Belgian biker Ennio Cucurachi (Nr 88) and the Belgian truck of Roland Hoebeke (Nr 537) were still in the section of the day against the clock.

-credit: dakar.com