07 January 2003 - 20:18 Cox one day to late, ''Peter'' Back on Top Dakar 2003 : Stage 6 - 228 km

A day after his 40th birthday, Alfie Cox offered himself a nice present with the best time of the day's bike stage between El Borma in Tunisia and Ghadames in Lybia. Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel moved up to the overall leading place in the car race thanks to his special success ahead of Masuoka. Meanwhile, for mechanical reasons, Jean-Louis Schlesser was forced to say 'au revoir' to the rally. In the truck competition, De Rooy father flew to overall leadership leaving the special to his son.

Taking off in fifth position was maybe the first good news of the day for Alfie Cox (KTM - n.2). All the South African had to do was catch up his team mate Cyril Despres (KTM - n.7) and speed on to try and catch up the leaders. At fourty and one day, that's exactly what Alfie did finding out on the finish line of the special that his birthday present had come one day late.
"Honestly there were no problems. After the first 70kms, there were a few dunes but all you had to do was read the road-book. From the refuel Cyril (Despres) and I gave everything."

On this 228km dusty stage, opening the special was certainly not an advantage. "It's difficult to make a difference when you're opening the course. For those behind, it's a lot easier. I knew that Meoni and Roma would catch me up", admitted Richard Sainct (KTM - n.3) who eventually finished fifth of the special. On their powerful KTM twin-cylinders, Roma (KTM - n.4) and Meoni (KTM - n.1) took advantage of their positions to close in on Sainct in the overall where both riders are now only 17secs adrift in joint second spot. The top five riders overall are now bunched in the same five minutes. Behind, a big gap has been set with the others: over 20 minutes with Spaniard Coma (KTM - n.10).

On four wheels, it's the same old story. The Mitsubishi Evos are "on another planet" according to Vatanen (Nissan -n.204). After Masuoka yesterday, it was Peterhansel's (n.206) turn to be in he limelight. Like in the bike race the Frenchman made the best of his starting position, behind Masuoka (Mitsubishi - n.200), to claim victory.

"We saw Masuoka after 150kms and we tried to catch him up. Eventually we came back but never catching him completely. Our average speed was of 110 km/h with high speeds at 160."

Adding to his third special win, the Frenchman moves back to the leading place of the overall, 49sec ahead of Masuoka. But 12 terrifying days are to come and all is not done for the Evos.
Meanwhile Gregoire De Mevius (BMW - n.205) enjoyed an excellent third spot on the day combined to his third place in the overall taking over Shinozuka's (Nissan - n.201) place as the Japanese took fourth spot of the special, 6min33s from the day's winner. De Mevius is now over 15min behind the first Mitsubishi.

"The car is very good on fast tracks. It's the first time a diesel car has a leading role in the Dakar. It's so good that sometimes we forget it's a diesel."

The day went slightly differently for Jean-Louis Schlesser (Schlesser Ford - n.208). After 68kms, the 1999 and 2000 race winner was forced to abandon with severe engine problems. After a real nightmare in yesterday's stage suffering suspension worries, Luc Alphand (BMW - n.221) took off in 118th and last position to conquer seventh place of the special. De Lavergne (NIssan - n.210) also impressed leaving 117th and finishing 12th.

In the truck race, Jan De Rooy (DAF - n.409) took back what he had left a day before: overall leadership. And as a good father he left special victory to his son Gerard (DAF - n.414). The Dutch veteran now leads the overall with a 6min35s advantage on his son while Tchaguine (Kamaz - n. 407) has to settle with third spot, 7min08s behind. Another pre-race favourite, Loprais (Tatra - n.408) is 39min33 adrift

"It's a great day for us. A special with a lot of sand and dunes which is perfect for the truck. We went fast and my son and me like going quickly."

Tomorrrow promises to be a whole new story for everyone. With a marathon stage which means that after the 548km special from Ghadames to Ghat, the vehicles will not be allowed to have assistance in the evening. 'Bonne chance' to all!

raid-live.com, 07/01/03