11 January 2003 - 22:39 Meoni breaks engine, Masuoka hits back Dakar 2003 : Stage 10 - 567 km

Stage 11 of the Dakar 2003 rally was marred by the very sad death of 48 year- old co-driver Bruno Cauvy. The Dakar family loses one of its members. The medical staff arrived 27 minutes after the organisers were informed to find the car upside down on the track and were only able to pronounce Bruno Cauvy dead at the scene of the accident.
The day's bike race between Zilla and Sarir saw its main favourite, Fabrizio Meoni, lose over 37minutes on overall leader Richard Sainct after breaking his engine. The special was finally won by Swede PG Lundmark. In the car category, Hiroshi Masuoka powered to special victory and gained precious minutes (2min46) on race leader Stephane Peterhansel. The truck event was once again a fantastic battle between the main favourites with this time De Azevedo clocking the fastest time of the day while Tchaguine moved back within two minutes of Gerardus De Rooy's leadership.

"Today, on this special, even without being a great pilot, I should have won at least 15 minutes on Sainct", admitted a very depressed Fabrizio Meoni (KTM - n.1) on the bivouac. Instead, the Italian lost exactly 37min11 on Sainct (KTM - n.3). A loss due to an engine problem after 240kms.

"The bike started not working normally. It was only going on one cylinder. Richard caught me up followed by all the others. I don't think I'm in a position to win the race."
Close to a 40 minutes loss in the overall standing means that Sainct finds himself in excellent position for overall victory two years after his last success if, of course, his single-cylinder KTM avoids mechanical upsets and if he keeps the relaxed attitude he has had since the start of the race in Marseille. "Honestly, it's bad luck for Fabrizio. It gives me a good safety gap. I will now be able to go a bit slower", said the Frenchman.

Meanwhile, another biker, PG Lundmark (KTM - n.16), gave everything he had to catch up the time he had lost a day before and by doing so grabbed stage victory. Taking off in 15th position, the Swede was thrilled by the win... for sponsorship reasons: "It's very good. Especially to find money for the Dakar. For me winning a special is almost enough to do the Dakar the next year."
Second place of the special went to Cyril Despres (KTM - n.7) who also moved up to second in the overall, 11min03 behind Sainct.

The car race was once again entertained by Hiroshi Masuoka (Mitsubishi - n.200). Highly motivated after his loss of time in yesterday's stage, the 2002 race winner took advantage of his 8th starting position to catch up four cars and clock the best time of the day.
"It's the kind of special that I enjoy. Our maximum speed was of 182km/h. Navigation wasn't difficult, it was straight on from start to finish."
Unfortunately for the Japanese driver, his team mate Stephane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi - n.206) remained well present on the special only losing 2min46 after 567kms. "We only lose a few minutes but we stay in control without taking risks."

Jean-Pierre Fontenay (Mitsubishi - n.202) took third spot ahead of Ari Vatanen (Nissan - n.204) who had to cope with yet another puncture. The day was a lot tougher for Luc Alphand (BMW - n.221). After only 40kms, the former skier had to stop for mechanical reasons and finished the special 49min43 adrift. His team mate Gregoire De Mevius (BMW - n.205) lost himself before CP1 and took 9th spot, 22min03 behind. The Belgian however keeps third place overall but sees Germany's Jutta Kleinschmidt (Volkswagen - n.203) gain 7 minutes on him. The 2001 winner is equally under the pressure of Fontenay. "Today I keep my 4th place but Jean-Pierre and the Nissans are coming back seriously."

In the trucks, it was De Azevedo's (Tatra - n.410) turn to conquer his first special of the rally. The Brazilian clocked the winning time ahead of Kamaz drivers Tchaguine (n.407) by 2min30 and Kabirov by 3min10. The day started in very bad fashion indeed for overall leader Gerardus De Rooy (DAF - n.414) who had lost over 25minutes at CP1. At the end of the day, the young Dutchman lost 22min10 on the De Azevedo and over 19min on Tchaguine. He keeps his lead for 1min52 on the Russian. Father Jan (Daf - n.209) finished fourth of the special, 6min02 adrift and remains fourth overall, 2h19min behind.

press info - rally Dakar, 11/01/2003