19 January 2003 - 22:12 And the winners are... Dakar 2003 : Stage : 17 - 34 km

The shortest stage of this Telefonica Dakar 2003 rally (56kms, including 34 of special) had no incidence on the final overall standings. Richard Sainct claimed the bike race ahead of Despres and Meoni, Hiroshi Masuoka won the car race ahead of Fontenay and Peterhansel and Vladimir Tchaguine grabbed the truck victory ahead of De Azevedo and Kabirov. The final special, won by Lundmark (bikes), Vatanen (cars) and Kabirov (trucks) was a real lap of honour for the 186 competitors who managed to make it to Sharm El Sheikh.

While the two "Flying Scandinavians" - PG Lundmark (Sweden, KTM - n.16) and Pal Anders Ullevalseter (Norway, KTM - n.12)- were fighting it out for victory with the last special win for the Swede, the leading trio in the overall started the last few kilometres of the 25th edition as a test between themselves. Respectively 3rd, 4th and 5th of the special, Meoni (KTM - n.1), Despres (KTM - n.7) and Sainct (KTM - n.3) finished the Dakar in the opposite order of the overall podium finish. Meoni however would have well liked to win a fourth stage on the race: "I had gear problems. I still went as fast as possible. I need to be at 100% of my possibilities to enjoy myself. This race counts a lot for me and I can even say that the Dakar is almost all my life. If I'm in good health, next year I'll be on the start line."

Overall winner of the rally for the third time, Sainct admitted: "I have as much pleasure as the first time. Today I'm more than satisfied. It'll take some days to realise but it's a great day."
Despres settled with a second spot that makes his day... and his rally: "It's a great joy today of finishing in second place of the overall and having gone through this fabulous Dakar 2003. It's something that any sportsman awaits. It just shows you have to work and never give up."

Concerning the bike teams and brands, KTM managed, as expected, an overwhelming rally. The first non-KTM rider, Jun Mitsuhashi (Honda - n.15) finished 16th. The Austrian brand also claimed every single special: 5 for Sainct, 3 for Meoni, 2 for Despres, Sala and Lundmark and 1 for Cox and Roma. Behind the four Gauloises official bikes, Jean De Azevedo (KTM - n.25) claimed an excellent 5th spot as well as the win in the Production category (ahead of Flick) and the Amateur category (ahead of Lundmark and Ullevalseter). The Elf Amateur trophy as well as best newcomer went to Jose Manuel Pellicer (KTM - n.35), 12th overall while the first women was Astrid Pichegrain (KTM - n.157), 92nd and the first biker on a quad, Machacek (Yamaha - n.170), took a fantastic 46th spot.

In the car race, Ari Vatanen will have to come back in 2004 to claim 50 special victories. The four-time Dakar winner however added a 49th stage success on the day with his legendary determination. Second and third, Alphand (BMW - n.221) and Kleinschmidt (Volkswagen - n.203) lost over 2secs per kilometre. Still shocked by the loss of the overall victory, Peterhansel (Mitsubishi - n.206) fifnished 10th at over 4min. "What's very frustrating is that when you finish and haven't managed the goal you had set, you have to wait for a year before trying again."
Thirty-fifth at 8min12, Hiroshi Masuoka (Mitsubishi - n.200) was certainly already on his victorious cloud. "To win the Dakar once is important, to win it twice is fantastic."

On the record book of this 2003 edition, Mitsubishi have won 11 specials, Nissan 4 and BMW 1. And concerning the drivers, the best performance is for 'Peter' with his 6 successes ahead of Vatanen and Masuoka with 4 and Biasion and Alphand with 1 special win. Added to Alphand's win, he also becomes the first driver from another sport (not a motorsport) to win a stage and finishes first of the diesel cars ahead of Monterde (Mitsubishi - n.224) and Brasilian Kolberg (Mitsubishi - n.212), also a winner of the Total Amateur trophy.

Sixteenth overall, Frenchman Jean-Pierre Strugo (Mercedes - n.220) dominated from start to finish the T1 category. He finishes ahead of Ratet and Belmondo. The first two-wheeled drive car is that of Christophe Tinseau (ProTruck - n.254), 15th overall and the first women crew is Jutta Kleinschmidt- Fabrrizia Pons (Volkswagen - n.203), 8th.

In the truck race, a phenomenal Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz - n.412) clinched his fifth straight special, just as many as Gerardus De Rooy (Daf - n.414) who was forced to pull out during the Siwa-Siwa stage. Vladimir Tchaguine and Jan De Rooy each won two stages leaving the other two to De Azevedo and Loprais. On a brand point of view, it's a draw between Kamaz and DAF with 7 specials each while Tatra claimed 2.
For overall winner Tchaguine (Kamaz - n.407): "It certainly is my most difficult victory out of the three because the battle in the truck race has never been so fierce." And the immediate answer on behalf of Jan De Rooy (DAF - n.409), fourth overall after suspension problems: "We will be back next year to try and win!"
See you in 2004...

Press info - rally Dakar, 19/01/2003