The Master Rallye was plunged into mourning today by the road accident which caused the death of two German competitors, Horst Godel and Gregor Haug, who were entered in truck 305. Their third team-mate Uwe Ziegler is unharmed and only has some bruising. The truck was on the road section between the two specials of the day when it left the road at 12:50, probably due to the slippery state of the road. Rescuers were immediately informed by the competitor just behind. René Metge and his team deeply regret the disappearance of these devotees of the event. Horst Godel was the correspondent of the rally in Germany.
Announced as being very driveable and with no great difficulty in navigation, the two specials of the day took place in cool and sometimes rainy weather, and before a public as numerous and enthusiastic as ever. In cars, this double dose special stage (108 km in the morning and 99 km in the afternoon) allowed Jean-Louis Schlesser to take the lead in the overall ranking. The best time in the two clocked sectors, the blue buggy gave voice to its power with top speeds of almost 180 km/h. Enough to rapidly forget the 8th place registered Friday during the first special, even though this performance, relatively below expectations, had in no way worried Schlesser or his co-driver Henri Magne. "It was just the opening of the rally. It is true that today we drove well, said Magne, there was a great deal of driving and a really nice first special, in the spirit of the Rally of the 1000 Lakes, with forest trails. In the afternoon we were given plateaux which were even more rapid, but also muddy portions, therefore with more traps. This is what caused the two overturns by Vigouroux." Indeed, the Protruck Chevrolet,
2nd in the morning special in front of Tinseau (also Protruck) and Misslin (Mitsubishi), negotiated the second layout badly, exiting at 120-130 km/h and wasting more than one hour for repairs. But the vehicle did not suffer too much from this double overturn and we should be seeing it attacking again in the coming days.
In the overall ranking, Schlesser is followed close at his heels by 23 little seconds only, by Christophe Tinseau, very regular again today, Nicolas Misslin, the brilliant youngest competitor in the race being positioned at
3rd place. Tenth in the Dakar, Misslin is gaining confidence and steadfastness each time and should be amongst those struggling for the podium. At least if he negotiates tomorrow's special just as well, which Magne has announced as being sharp." It is copious, the notes are very complex. Therefore we must avoid all traps before thinking about our opponents. This is the key to success in rally-raids, in addition to the reliability and the performance of one's own vehicle. But our buggy is ready for
this..."
In motorbikes, a French rider achieved, like Schlesser, a double, imposing himself in the morning and the afternoon: François Flick, now second in the overall ranking behind the Swede Per-Gunnar Lundmark, only 48'' behind. The man from Montluçon heard of this splendid performance with a great deal of calm. "I am taking my marks and I do not intend to take short cuts now that I am in the lead. Today several traces helped me, for the trajectory as well as for navigating. It's my first scratch on the Master, but I had already achieved this on the 1998 Dakar. "Modest, Flick however dominated a Lundmark who gave his all during the second special stage." I am not disappointed, said the Swede, I preferred to remain cautious in the morning but I really went all out afterwards! Flick must have been very good to be quicker than me. But when I asked him how much he weighed, I understood what made the difference: he weighs 63 kg, and I weigh almost 90! We probably both have the same top speed but he probably reaches it more quickly..." Flick readily admits that he is the size of a jockey on his KTM: "You can't see much of me behind my bubble. Everybody sees PG arriving from a long way off!"
Tomorrow's programme
The third leg between Juchnov and Tambov (649 km including 202 km of special) will no doubt mark a turning point in the rally as it would appear to be very demanding navigation-wise. Some off-road in the prairies of a magnificent little valley, canyons to be crossed, embankments, lakes, bumps and big steps which will require very refined driving and subtle navigation on scarcely visible grassy trails. At the end of the special, the trails will be more marked and driveable around the fields. It is during this leg that the rally will discover the Don, one of the biggest rivers in Russia, that the competitors will drive along and then cross at a very lovely ford passage.
