SCHOTT Stephan DEU 15/10/1952 176 cm 70 kg

SCHMIDT Holm DEU 10/08/1965 180 cm 74 kg

Vehicle

MODEL	MAKE
PAJERO	MITSUBISHI

RANKING

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Scratch	65	65	119	72	-	58	46	93	47	58	-	84	68	70
Stage	65	65	119	72	123	56	82	93	46	57	-	83	68	70	-	-
Overall	65	56	92	88	105	90	91	34	89	75	-	79	76	76	-	-

Stephan Schott: "I’m not afraid"

Co-founder of a company specialised in tools "linked to the bike industry", Stephan Schott had good chances to be attracted by the Dakar. "I caught the virus!", says the German laughing. "Infected" recently, Stephan Schott hadn’t awaited anyone to live his passion for bikes and his curiosity to discover Africa. "It all started when I was 20: I read an article in a German magazine about the Algerian desert, he explains. I told myself ’I have to go there’". And Stephan did exactly that... He sat down behind the steering wheel of his little Volkswagen and took off in 1972 for an African road trip between Algeria, Mauritania, Marocco and Niger... This year, Stephan is about to take on South America with slight apprehension, especially concerning the way his Mitsubishi Pajero will adapt to altitude and its lack of power in the Andes: “My car won’t be very fast, but I believe it will be reliable”. The man from Frankfurt knows however that he will be able to count on the experience of his co-driver Holm Schmidt, who will be starting his fourth Dakar without managing to finish any. “It was never his fault”, insists Stephan laughing. “Holm is an excellent co-driver, very reliable, very calm and a lot fitter than I am”. The co-driver expects a “very very difficult” race even though he’s lucky enough to have “a very talented driver”. He hopes that after the technical problems witnessed during his three appearances, he will finally be able to get to the end of his “great dream”. Stephan Schott doesn’t underestimate the challenge but remains confident: "I have a lot of respect for the race, but I’m not afraid. Making it to the finish would be good. In the Top 40 would be even better”.

Dakar start photos on line: www.maindruphoto.com

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