Euromilhões Lisboa - Dakar 2007 : Dakar

moto

Esteve Pujol: “We come to win”

Isidre Esteve Pujol had founded many hopes on the 2006 year. He had joined the Gauloises team after leaving KTM Repsol and showed up at the start of the Dakar with high expectations alongside the leader of the team and title-holder Cyril Despres. A fall during the stage between Nouakchott and Kayes saw his Dakar adventure end. Flown away on that day, Isidre was able to compete again two months later and claimed the Tunisia rally.

Since then, he prepared for his tenth appearance in a very serious and meticulous way, also winning the biggest Spanish event of the discipline, the Baja España. A season marked, for Isidre Esteve and all the team, by the unveiling and development of the new KTM 660, the LC4. A team work established with the rival squad of Catalan Marc Coma was set up. “There was no competition problem. We agree with the philosophy of the Dutch brand to associate both teams and build the best possible bike and then let the bikers battle it out on a sporting point of view”, explains Isidre.

Isidre Esteve describes the new wonder as both lighter and less rigid. A machine that seems favourable to be at the height of the team’s ambitions: “We come to win”, he insists. Esteve who quit the race only twice (2003 and 2006) and built himself a reputation of being a very consistent rider (he finished each time in the top 30) on the biggest of rally-raid events is back with a brand new moral and a huge will to make the best of his skills and experience. At 34 years of age he is as ready as can be for the Dakar that he already finished in 4th spot in 2004. ‘’We have never worked so much. There was no rest in our preparation”. The new regulation that no longer limits speed for bikes in desert portions are also there to satisfy the Spaniard. A good way to carry on his personal battle with Marc Coma. And that will certainly make the 2007 bike race even more exciting and still as open.

auto

StĂ©phane Peterhansel (FRA): “First make sure we beat the others”

Eight-time winner of the Dakar (six times on a bike, twice in a car), StĂ©phane Peterhansel doesn’t yet know all the traps that the rally has to provide. During the last edition, the event’s “cannibal” left the race leadership to Luc Alphand with four days to go after his expertise of dunes and navigation had enabled him to exit Mauritania with a comfortable lead over his rivals. The reason: bad race circumstances and finally a tree in the Guinean forest that was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Thanks to his experience, “Peter’’ has serenely prepared for the 2007 Dakar that could well end up with another duel with his team mate Luc Alphand: “The priority is first of all to make sure that we beat the others, especially Volkswagen. Then the individual competition will naturally take over. Each one of us knows that the other is capable of winning, but our relationship is very sane’’. The two big favourites seem to have an extra asset in order to fulfil their first mission thanks to the new version of the Mitsubishi Pajero Evo, known as the MPR 13: “ It isn’t revolutionary compared to last year’s model that was already very competitive, but we have gained in reliability and it’s a pleasure to drive. It is balanced in a better way for bends, we’ll be able to go faster in curves’’, details Peterhansel.

Jean-Paul Cottret, who was at “Peter’s” side during his two successes in 2004 and 2005, sees a direct interest for himself with the new changes done this year on the Pajero Evo: “Efforts have been done so that the cockpit is adapted in a better way. For the co-driver, it is important to really fit in well in the car and I feel there’s a real improvement”. The first experience of the MPR 13 in competition was however not very conclusive during the UAE Desert Challenge when a driving mistake broke the steering system. Peterhansel and Cottret will have the possibility to hit back between Lisbon and Dakar.

Hans Stacey, the Dutch go-getter

Portimao, Malaga, Er Rachidia, Ouarzazate, Tan Tan, Zouerat! The first six stages of the Dakar in 2006 were dominated by the skills of the Tsar. Vladimir Chagin ran amok and the competition seemed to be completely sluggish.

However, behind the wheel of his truck, Hans Stacey did not throw in the towel. On the seventh stage, which includes the third longest special stage of the edition, measuring 310 miles in length, he arrived in first place in Atar. It was as if the wind had turned for the Russian Armarda: Hans Stacey and his two accomplices Gotlib and Der Kinderen developed a taste for victory and finished the 28th edition of the Dakar in 2nd place after having won four stages in Kayes, Bamako, Labé and Tambacounda.

Hans Stacey was finally the only driver to have challenged the domination of the Kamaz. Even better, he managed to separate Chagin and Kabirov in the general rankings, breathing life all by himself back in to a truck race which seemed to be dead. With this experience of a successful Dakar, the Dutch national has given hope to the many lovers of the sport in his home country and can boast serious ambitions this time around. The Russian/Dutch clash is not to be missed this year, and it will probably start much sooner


Ricardo Leal dos Santos (POR): "You have to earn your right to the desert"

According to the philosophy of Ricardo Leal dos Santos, the desert is a terrain that you face alone
 In 2000 and 2003, the Portuguese rider, a motor sports enthusiast, rode the Dakar on a quad since he did not have a sufficient budget to participate in a 4X4. The first year, he had to abandon in Bamako, but on his second attempt, he managed to finish the rally despite a terrible accident. He does not hide his love for the Dakar, nor does he lessen the difficulties he encountered in being able to take part: "When I was only a small child, I used to watch the Dakar on the television. I then became a real motor sports enthusiast, but the budgets necessary to make the starting line of the Dakar in a car were far too high for me. After a lot of practice off-roading in Portugal, in 2000 I enrolled for the rally on a quad, because it is the vehicle which is the most similar to a 4X4".

For two years running, this native of Lisbon has succeeded in taking the starter’s orders for the rally in a car. In 2005, he finished amongst the first 20 places without assistance, but with a co-pilot. Last year, the estate agent by trade achieved a rare feat: he drove his Pajero to the banks of the Pink Lake without a co-pilot
 Throughout the history of the Dakar, less than a dozen drivers have succeeded in crossing the African dunes while navigating and driving alone. This year, Ricardo Leal dos Santos will be starting out in the same way with the goal of being the first driver to accomplish this feat twice in a row. This solo challenge will oblige the Portuguese driver to adapt his driving and be more aware of what is going on around his vehicle, especially in the difficult sections. "When I climb a dune, reach the summit and start to dive down the other side, I would prefer to have someone else with me to help watch what is going on around the car", admits the Portuguese driver. The work that needs to be done for his Pajero during the special stages is massive, especially when the car gets stuck in the sand. The Portuguese likes the sporting challenge that the Dakar represents but also the state of mind inherited from "the olden days" which reigns over the rally: "The Dakar must be a challenge. You need to learn to drive fast without losing control or respect of the desert. I don’t want to betray the spirit of this race".

Philippe Lecomte:

Philippe Lecomte has dreamed for a long time of the Dakar. The day he decided to make his dreams come true, he also shaped his lifestyle around his ambitions. "In one year, I lost thirty kilos and I stopped smoking", explains the Managing Director of finance corporation Schroders, based in London. From Philippe’s outlook, for its overall coherence, his race has to go hand in hand with a major aid campaign: "I could not envisage taking part in the rally without doing something for Africa. Once I had completed the initial formalities, I contacted A.S.O. and then SOS Sahel, who provided guidance on the initiatives I could set up. Since I have an address book full of important partners, I realised that I could envision a large-scale venture".

Philippe Lecomte does indeed boast a network of reliable contacts. During autumn 2006, he set up the concept of an evening gala organised at the HĂŽtel de Crillon, one of his partners. The entrance fees were to be used to fund Dakar related charitable actions. "I reckoned on 250 guests, with an admission fee of 50 Euros, as well as several raffles, for which I relied on the goodwill of the donators". The efforts of the esteemed guests exceeded expectations, since almost 20,000 Euros were raised on the gala evening and thereafter. According to RĂ©mi Hemeryck, Chairman of the SOS Sahel foundation, the operation is already a success, "This money will help us to set up four or five aid programmes in rural or urban zones, with concrete action for preserving the environment". Philippe Lecomte has won his first bet; now all that remains is to reach Dakar.