By decision of the sporting officials, the five trucks of Dutch manufactor DAF have not been cleared to start the 28th edition of the Dakar. The crews concerned are: those of: Hans Bekx (502), Gerard De Rooy (n° 504), Jan De Rooy (n° 506), Marcel Van Vliet (n° 523) and Hugo Duisters (n° 529).

According to the officials technical report the competitors of these vehicles don’t have the proper documents.
For these reasons, a jury of officials has decided after speaking to the competitors that based on a part of article 25.4 of the rule book as well as the whole of article 25P1 « every vehicle that is not in conformity can’t be cleared to start the rally. (decision of the jury of sporting officials) ». Article 25P2 B must also be taken into consideration. This decision was announced to the competitors at 15h20 and they now have an hour to appeal.

“These last few years, I was very careful because the Mitsubishis were really better than the others. But this year, we’ll be in the competition. We’ve worked during the whole season on the buggy. We’ve tested it a lot and I believe that we’re ready. The fact that we have three cars with Magnaldi and Servia is good news because I can focus on attacking. The return of real navigation is also interesting and it’ll change a lot of things. The desert is wide open and so is the race. The Dakar spirit is back and I’m happy about that if I can make the best of it.”

Alone against all. Or almost… David Frétigné will once again be one of the main rivals of the KTM riders on his Yamaha official bike. “I’m eager to start the race and get into the rally rhythm. We’ve worked on the bike a lot to improve the riding position, the comfort in order to feel more rested. I don’t believe that the new rule concerning speed with change the race. I however believe that the event will be won thanks to navigation. I like taking initiatives and I’m not afraid of giving it a go. Anyhow, I’ll do my best to try and make it the podium.”

“It’s great. I’m really lucky to be driving for Mitsubishi that give me an almost perfect car in a team perfectly prepared for its 24th appearance on the rally. This stability is perfect because everyone knows what he has to do. In such conditions, the only decider is the driver. But I’ve improved a lot thanks to my god World Cup season and my two first victories in Tunisia and Portugal. I’ve gained a lot in confidence, now it’s time to make a difference on the Dakar. Of course, the competition should be tough with VW that’s closed the gap on us and also Schlesser that has the fastest car. Let’s not forget my team mates! But between us, the atmosphere is great, we’re a real bunch of mates and although we all hope to win, there’s a lot of respect between us. Let the best driver win…”

“It’s true that Volkswagen has really worked a lot and should be close to us in the competition. But we didn’t worry about what they did and our car has been improved and should be even better, so everything should go well. Added to that, we’ve spent a lot of time together and the atmosphere is excellent between us. We all have the same car and the same goal but there’s a real team spirit and that could prove to be decisive in case of problems. Actually, if I don’t win, I would be delighted if one of my team-mates does. Other than that, this start in Portugal is really nice, first of all because the sun is shining but also because this year we’ll have a real race in Europe and not just liaisons and short specials.”

Smartly dressed up in the official red and black colours of the Mitsubishi team, Nani Roma looked extremely relaxed and focused before going through scrutineering. “I can’t wait to start”, admitted the Spaniard who recently went through a week’s training with the whole team in Douarnenez (France). He will be starting his second Dakar on four wheels without the slightest pressure explaining that “only the race will decide the tactics. On a Dakar, strategy can rapidly become minor. My experience on four wheels has only just started. I have to improve in the race rhythm and carry on learning.”

The driver from Castellon arrived at scrutineering behind the steering wheel of his BMW X5: the only model of the German team this year while the other three vehicles are X3s. “The new X3 car is a lot more powerful. A lot of work has been done to lighten the vehicle. But because I haven’t had the possibility to test the car, I preferred to start wit this model that I know well.” Monterde however feels ambitious and wants to make it within the top ten. “It’s a race for me. I like marathons and I’m usually better in the second week.”

The man that many call the ‘Uncle’ of the Dakar will be starting his 24th consecutive rally at the age of 64. Yoshimasa Sugawara is also the only competitor of the Dakar to have started the race in all three categories since 1983. “The goal is to win the 10L category. Our truck isn’t powerful enough to compete with the Kamaz team so I’ll be driving with my head. It would be great to one day win the truck race. Concerning the De Rooy trucks, if they aren’t allowed to start, I feel sorry for them and for the truck event but there are rules and one has to respect them. That’s what we do with Hino. My interest is to start the race with a standard truck that has nothing to do with some prototypes.”

This year again, André de Azevedo will be starting the Dakar with the ambition to finish among the five leading trucks overall. He has indeed worked on several changes on his Tatra truck in order to avoid the “hiccups” that forced him to quit during last year’s event. “I’m very happy to start the race in Portugal. The first two stages should be fast and allow us to make sure the changes we have done on the truck are good. We have shortened the chassis by 54cm and lightened the truck by 400kg for a better transmission. If all goes well in Europe, we’ll really gain in confidence and that’s important to manage our goal of finishing in the top 5. Other than that, the new navigation rules will ad an extra something to the race. I hope that my experience as a former biker will help".

Winner of the Volant Dakar contest last year that allowed him to start the race in a Bowler, Guerlain Chicherit is back for this edition as an official driver for the BMW X-Raid team. His ambitions are obviously bigger but the Frenchman still has a lot to learn and wants to prepare the future. “A lot of things have changed compared to last year. I was lucky enough to enter a top team with big ambitions. We have a very powerful car and rather similar to the one that I drive in road rallies. I believe we have done all the necessary things to be ready for the start The car is great, physically we’re OK and with Mathieu (Baumel) we have studied the new rules. We have no reason to be worried. Anyhow, I’ve been waiting for this moment for the last 6 months. I’m eager to take off.”

The first big guns to show up on the parking lot of scrutinering were the BMW X-Raid boys… Four vehicles with the clear intention to worry the Mitsubishi and Volkswagen teams. Probably the fastest and most promising of the X-Raid drivers, Nasser Al Attiyah, looked keen to start the battle. The Qatari who finished 10th of his first Dakar in 2004 and was third when he crashed out of last year’s race believes that his X3 can manage great things.
“The car has nothing to do with last year’s. It’s much better, much faster. I really think I can manage a great result this time”. Al Attiyah will indeed be driving a new X3 model like his team mates Guerlain Chicherit and Alfie Cox while José Luis Monterde will start on an X5.
For South Africa’s Cox, it’ll be a first experience on four wheels in the Dakar, after riding a KTM and managing second spot overall in 2001. “It’s not completely new because I race on a Nissan in South Africa. But I’m just here to learn. I feel relaxed.”

The Belem Cultural Centre hosts for the third and final day, the administrative checks and scrutineering of the Euromilhoes Lisboa-Dakar 2006. After the Volkswagen armada yesterday, the Portuguese fans and the media will be welcoming the Mitsubishi squad with their title holder Stephane Peterhansel. The six-time Dakar winner will take off on Saturday alongside prestigious team mats such as Luc Alphand, second last year, Hiroshi Masuoka, a winner in 2003, Nani Roma, bike winner in 2004 and Andrea Mayer. Also expected today: the BMW X-Raid team and the Schlesser buggies.
Concerning the bikes all eyes will turn to Frenchman David Frétigné on his Yamaha.
In the truck race, Karel Loprais, also a six–time winner of the event will be driving his Tatra truck into the scrutineering parking lot. A question mark remains concerning the DAF trucks of De Rooy father and son that failed to go through administrative checks yesterday and are still waiting for a precious FIA licence.