02 May 2003 - 21:46 Bad luck follows Peterhansel Optic 2000 Rally Tunisia

The Mitsubishi Motors' team lost a possible victory in the Optic 2000 Rally of Tunisia in dramatic circumstances, when runaway leaders Stephane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret were forced out of the rally by a fire which destroyed their Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution 60 kms from the end of the final stage between Nekrif and Djerba today (Sunday).

Peterhansel had begun the day 53m 59s minutes ahead of the defending World Champion Jean-Louis Schlesser, but his car suddenly caught fire near the second passage control. The flames quickly took hold and the car was destroyed. The incident handed a surprise victory to Frenchman Schlesser and his co-driver Jean-Marc Lurquin in their Buggy.

"We both smelt petrol and stopped to see what was happening," said a shattered Peterhansel. "Jean-Paul got out of the car and shouted to me to get out quickly. There were flames on my side by the front wheel and we tried to put them out. We used the extinguishers, but it was not enough. Miki was following close behind and he stopped to help us and we threw sand on the fire. But it was not possible to get it under control. I cannot believe this can happen. It is like a nightmare for me to lose a race on the last day three times this year. It is maybe the curse of a black cat."

"This is the first time we have lost one of our rally cars to a fire since Jean-Pierre Fontenay's Pajero was damaged on the 1992 Paris-Cape Town Rally," admitted team director Dominique Serieys.

Troubles has been following the Mitsubishi driver since the end of January. Remember that in Sinan, the day before the finish of the last Dakar, Stephane was the dominating leader until serious mechanical problems made him lose more than two hours and cost him the win in the end. Two months later, during the Italian Baja, the former seven-time winner moto Dakar winner was comfortably in the lead of the event until he had to stop 8 km from the finish line.

Bad luck? This is something that he did not want to believe until this superb but interrupted race in Tunisia. Starting first in the last leg of the event, his teammate Miki Biasion even slowed down to wait for him and watch for any trouble that could hamper the leader but the fire was just too intense and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

So Jean-Louis Schlesser is the winner in Tunisia. However, the French driver is well aware that Stephane Peterhansel's deserved to win more than anyone. "I am sorry for Stephane but I will not repeat it 50 times: he deserved to win this rally. However, nothing is done until the finish line and I had the merit to believe in my chances until the end." said Schlesser.

Jean-Louis Schlesser is now a four-time winner of the Rally Tunisia but this year his victory is more related to Stephane Peterhansel's bad luck. It is the first win for the blue buggy since last summer in the Master Rally, but also the first victory of the new Schlesser- Ford partnership.

Rally of Tunisia : Final results

1. J.-L. Schlesser  / J.-M. Lurquin Schlesser-Ford    20h13m50s
2. M. Biasion / T. Siviero          Mitsubishi Pajero 21h24m27s
3. N. Misslin / J.-M. Polato        Mitsubishi Pajero 21h54m13s
4. L. Komornicki / R. Marton        Mitsubishi Pajero 22h57m12s
5. A. Mayer / A. Schulz             Mitsubishi Pajero 23h47m59s
6. J.-L. Monterde / R. Tornabell    Mitsubishi Pajero 24h13m04s