Leaving Kalmukia and Elista, the
8th Master Rallye pursued its descent today towards the Black Sea where the finish will be judged on Sunday in Novorossisk. But even so close to the objective, the day was no picnic. Spiced navigation at the beginning of the special, mud, trails with traps, full of potholes and channels, forced the competitors to apply the greatest care. Fatigue is accumulating, reflexes are losing their edge and the last days of the race are smiling on those who still have enough brightness and lucidity to dodge the ultimate dangers. This is not difficult for Jean-Louis Schlesser, on board his Schlesser-Renault buggy. The leader in the overall ranking carried off another special, in front of the Russian, Alexandre Khrol (Mitsubishi), and the Pole Lukasz Komornicki (Mitsubishi). He now has over an hour better than his heir apparent, Khrol, in the overall and over three hours than the 3rd, the Spaniard, Jose Luis Monterde (Mitsubishi), who rises in the rating every day.
«It was probably the best special since the start, in any case from the driving point of view, analysed Schlesser. I believe we made a great performance with top speeds at 170 km/h. Navigating wasn’t easy at the beginning of the special, then we cut across to overtake Khrol. We drove for quite a while with Tinseau as well, but I know that he had a problem (see below).» As sure as ever of his buggy, the leader affirms that he is not yet thinking about a new final victory which is however within his reach. «Frankly it is not on the agenda. First, let’s reach the end. Reliability is part of the competition in rally-raids, a lot of people tend to forget that.»
One thing is certain, Christophe Tinseau is not ready to forget this Friday 9 August. Unlucky in the last few days,
2nd again in the overall this morning, the driver of Protruck ASM lost all hope of being placed honourably in the final rating after having shattered his right front axle at 80 km from the finish of the special. Taking a lot of risks (too many?) to overtake Schlesser, he hit a stone when taking a parallel track and very badly damaged the right front half axle of his Protruck. He had to wait for his assistance for many long minutes. A Master Rallye which is clearly finishing badly for the Protrucks, as that of Eric Vigouroux did not take the departure this morning, further to his mechanical break down yesterday. (left front half axle).
Although suspense for the victory does not appear to be the case, the opposite is so in the contest at the summit of catégorie T1. With three quarters of an hour’s advance Wednesday evening on Jean-Pierre Strugo (Mercedes), Yves Loubet (Nissan) appeared to have got through the hardest part. But yesterday, Strugo gained fifteen minutes from him and today the Corsican had another difficult day. Victim of an overturn «when not moving, or hardly, in first gear, in a rut” 30 kilometres from the finish, this time he gave more than a quarter of an hour to his rival and Strugo is only 5’58’’ from the Nissan in the overall. We wish to salute the sporting gesture of Georges Lansac, Strugo’s co-driver, who helped Loubet to put his car upright. «There is going to be some suspense, that is for sure, but I have one tactic alone to adopt, let out Loubet: to go as fast as possible!» Lying in wait, Strugo remains serene. «The trail will decide. Yves Loubet will get pressure. Up till now, he was not able to manage it too well.»
Will the motorbike race also be the scene of a new last-minute development? Its leader PG Lundmark (KTM) does not appear to be as calm as at the beginning of the week. Today, like other drivers in the lead (Oosting, Dabrowski, Lazard) he had a few concerns in navigating around km 40, “gardening” for a good quarter of an hour close to a farm where the trails crossed. «I had already got a little worried last night when reading the road-book. I did not succeed in resolving the problem on the trail. At the end of 10 kilometres on the wrong trail, I began to think about the overall and I turned back.» After that, the Swede assured the basics, being content with the
4th place in the special. But he should be wary until the end of François Flick, brilliant winner of the day and who is only 25’34’’ late in the overall. «I spent a day which was almost perfect, exulted Flick. I didn’t see anyone on the trail, but I wound in and out a lot! Everything has happened just as I wanted for several days. I am confident in the road-book, and haven’t had the slightest worry. I hurried to reach the finish before it rained, otherwise it was likely to become Holiday on Ice!» Anxious to achieve a comeback after two consecutive withdrawals in the Dakar, Flick has returned to the forefront in this Master Rallye, that he has discovered for the first time. «It is super to ride in front, I think this event is wonderful. René Metge is truly a tremendous guy. Riding on layouts such as these is fantastic!»
Tomorrow’s programme
The second to last day of the Master Rallye 2002 will lead the competitors to Anapa. Two specials on the menu. 55 km long, the SS 10, very driveable at the beginning, will end in ruts and crevasses. The rain in these last few days risks complicating the life of the drivers so near to the goal. Slightly longer, the SS 11 is announced as being just as lively. The ford crossing can turn out to be a hazardous exercise. In any case, we will have to wait for René Metge’s briefing this evening at the bivouac to find out more about this leg.
