Declarations
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Luc Alphand (FRA – MIT – 1st)
"It was a very difficult stage today. You can’t compare it to the Mauritanian ones, but it may have been the most difficult one in terms of driving, especialy in the mountain. So we didn’t take a single risk on this section, what didn’t prevent us from damaging a part under the car when we hit a rock. This morning, the only question was: Is Giniel going to try and attack us, or is he going to settle for his second place? Luckily, we left first this morning and avoided the dust. So we could focus on the race, and that was important since the navigation was not so easy. We are satisfied with this result and the minutes we gain on Giniel. And tomorrow we can afford to relax a bit."
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Carlos Sainz (SPA - VW - 2nd)
"It was a difficult stage for us today, since we drove all day long in the dust. After 30 kilometres, we caught up Magnaldi and Vigouroux and waited during 60 kilometres before seizing the first opportunity to overtake them. Then, on the last 10 kilometres, I caught Saby up, and followed him until the end, with absolutely no visibility. Apart from that, nothing special happened except a puncture at the end."
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Giniel De Villiers (SAF - VW - 3rd)
"We did quite a good stage today, except a waypoint we looked for in the bush. This mistake coast us about 2 minutes. There were many traps in the first part of the stage and I didn’t take a risk. But then, I attacked on the whole second half of the stage. I drove as fast as I could, in spite of the dust, and tried and protect my second place in the overall ranking, what is far more important than a result in a stage. Anyway, Luc was absolutey uncatchable today."
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Bruno Saby (FRA – VW – 4th)
"It was very difficult today. I don’t really know how the guys ahead managed to battle for victory. But it was hard for the drivers as well as for the cars. For us, there was no question: we had to drive safely enough to be able to assist Giniel in case of troubles. But we stayed in Guerlain Chicherit’s dust and had to wait for a while before we could overtake him. Luckily, he missed a waypoint and had to make a u-turn to find it. That’s where we overtook him. Then we caught Giniel up and stayed in touch until the end."
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Nani Roma (SPA - MIT - 5th)
"It is a good day for me since I am third of the overall ranking, with an advantage of one hour on Stephane who is fourth. Yet, I punctured twice and lost a bit of time. Sainz overtook me, but I saw Mark Miller stopped on the side of the track. It is also a good stage for the team since Luc clocked the first time and assured his leading place in the overall ranking. And the main goal for "Mitsu" is still to win in Dakar. For me, tomorrow’s stage will be the most difficult since there is a place on the podium at stake."
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Yoshio Ikemachi (JAP - TOY - 1st production)
"Today, the stage was both tricky and fast. There were many stones on a narrow track. Luckily, we had clocked a good time yesterday, so we started in a good position this morning. And, actually, I am more than happy to think that we’ll be in dakar, in less than two days."