From Saratov to Volgograd, the 8th Master Rallye was entitled to a good day’s life-size
«gardening» today which, for the victory of the leg, smiled down on two of the principal outsiders of the event, the Russian, Alexander Khrol (Mitsubishi) and the Frenchman, François Flick (KTM). As if the difficulties of the layout concocted by René Metge and his team were not enough, the weather took charge of lending spice to the programme. Rain at the departure, mud for the greater part of the route, enough to destabilise more than one driver, and if you add the traditional navigating problems and the length of the special (423 km), it is not surprising that the day was tricky for nearly everyone, starting with the leaders, Schlesser (buggy Schlesser Renault), and Lundmark (KTM), who maintain their position without however managing to enter the Top 3 of the day.
Already to the fore for several legs, Sacha Khrol signed the scratch today in cars, on home-ground, or nearly, as this 29 year old amateur driver, who directs a public works company, lives in Kolomna, 100 km south of Moscow. He succeeded in arriving ahead of Schlesser, only
4th with 13’49’’, but also of Misslin and Barkat, who complete the podium by signing a good Mitsubishi triple win.
«I am very familiar with this type of terrain, explained Khrol, and I am very at ease on these fairly slippery trails. The rain, the mud were additional adversaries, of course, but I did not have any problems. At least, not too many problems. For me this rally is really a first class rally with a very varied course, more than the other rally-raids. Now I would like to stay in a fairly good position in the overall (he is 3rd at present), but there are still five more legs to go. Don’t count on me to make the least prediction!»
Behind Misslin and Barkat, Schlesser therefore had to be content with 4th place in the leg, his 2-wheel drive buggy having suffered in the mud. He wasted a few minutes during the crossing of a sandy ford, owing his salvation to a few spectators who got him out of the fix.
«Even though I did not win, we once again had a super time all the same», noted the leader, fair-play, and who without doubt noted with interest the bad day had by Christophe Tinseau and his Protruck. Arriving without his right fender which had been torn off, victim of another puncture when he had overtaken Schlesser, Tinseau had a job accepting this further day of bad luck.
«It is really rotten luck! The day when Jean-Louis appeared not to be so good, the day when we could have been able to get some time from him, because we were in front for some time, we get another puncture. It’s a pity, as that could have kept the suspense up. From now on it will be much more difficult», noted the 2nd in the overall, at more than half an hour from the buggy.
Like yesterday, the performance of Thierry Magnaldi, must be paid tribute to,
5th in the special and 4th in the overall, and of course still in the lead in category T1 in his Mercedes. The former motorcycle officer, even tasted driving in the lead again, even though it was only for a few kilometres.
«Another good day again, we got great pleasure particularly in the last 50 kilometres. But how good it felt to be in the lead, like in motorbike times! When Schlesser took the wrong direction, we wondered if we should tell him on the radio… He might have been cross.» joked Magnaldi. A harder leg on the other hand for Yves Loubet (Nissan), handicapped by his power steering and who finished at almost one hour from Khrol.
In motorbikes, the leader, PG Lundmark (KTM), admitted without persuasion that he
«had a very bad day», by far the worst since the departure last Friday from Saint Petersburg. No less than four falls punctuated the Swede’s day who nevertheless limited damages on taking
4th place in the special. «I made a mistake due to my inexperience by not choosing the right mud-guard. With the mud which constantly blocked my front wheel, I fell quite heavily several times and I was particularly afraid that this would touch my engine as well. I should have installed a cross-country type mud-guard. In the end, I got off quite lightly» Well estimated. Because although François Flick (KTM) took advantage of Lundmark’s problems by winning the special, he has not really taken advantage in the overall as on clocking in this evening in
2nd place, it is still at more than half an hour from his rival.
«Maybe the rally was won today. It could have been a much better day for me if I had not had so many problems. I broke my mud-guard, like Lundmark, but also my trip (kilometric indicator) broke down after PC 3 and I did the last 40 kilometres without a front brake! So I am salvaging something from the situation» Flick is too modest, as in spite of all these hitches he succeeded in navigating almost perfectly, which gave an advantage notably to the Portuguese, Santos (KTM),
2nd in the special and who occupies the 4th place in the overall, just behind the Pole, Dabrowski (KTM), whose regularity is awarded by a place on the podium for the provisional overall.
Tomorrow’s programme
The sixth leg will lead the competitors from Volgograd to Astrakhan, with 576 km in the programme, including 368 in the special. To begin the second part of the race, René Metge has concocted a special where driving on view and navigation will get a good deal. After crossing as many big grassy steppes as you like during the first kilometres, the competitors will be provided with small dunes, descending steps, bumps and small valleys. Superb landscapes doubled with moments of intense driving.
