NOVITSKIY Leonid RUS 01/07/1968 177 cm 80 kg

TYUPENKIN Oleg RUS 31/10/1966

Vehicle

MODEL	MAKE
X3 CC	BMW

RANKING

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Scratch	12	14	120	13	17	71	9	14	6	7	-	5	5	2
Stage	12	14	120	13	17	69	9	13	6	8	-	5	5	2	-	-
Overall	12	12	40	28	21	24	21	18	14	12	-	8	8	8	-	-

Leonid Novitskiy: "I’ll fight to make it in the top 10"

"The Dakar is for me the real way of testing myself in the toughest conditions". Things are clear for Leonid Novitskiy: the rally is first of all a meeting with himself, a challenge he has taken on twice in 2006 and 2007, with success thanks to a 25th and then a 20th position overall. More than encouraging results for this businessman determined "to fight for a place in the top 10". A top 10 that he already reached with his co-driver Oleg Tyupenkin during the Pax rally (10th), “an experience we have to build on”. Their new car should also help the two Russians to satisfy their ambitions. Their BMW X-3 is indeed “a modern car, a lot faster and easier to drive” than the previous one. To deal with the difficulties linked to the altitude, the crew from Moscow spent a few days in a specialised medical centre in Berlin. In other words every detail of their preparation has been thought over. But Leonid Novitskiy, winner of the Rally Cup in his country in 2005 and a Russian champion in 2007, is well aware of the difficulties they will witness. He has already experienced impressive situations on the Dakar like that time “when our main light turned off during the race and we had to drive the last ten kilometres in the dark”.

Dakar start photos on line: www.maindruphoto.com

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