ETAPE 9 – INTERVIEWS
18.07.2016
“A win on every other special stage”
Cyril Despres (Driver, Peugeot DKR2008 n°104) :
“There was a little bit of stress at the start of the special stage with the dunes just after we set off. What tyre pressure to set? How do we get through the dunes? Former motorcycle riders, like me, are used to taking them straight on. Everything went well and when we saw Al Rahji come out of the dunes and that Séb got stuck, we knew we had already picked up 4 minutes. It was more complicated after that. We were in front for 150kms, which wasn’t easy, because you don’t drive at the same pace. But if someone had told I would win 4 of the first 8 stages of the rally, I wouldn’t have believed them. We have had a good strategy since the start and I must admit to have Stéphane behind us as out rapid assistance is quite a relief.”
“We thought it was over “
Sébastien Loeb (Driver, Peugeot DKR2008 n°102) :
“Everything went okay in the erg, up until the last big dune. Al Rahji braked hard on the top of a dune, I slowed down and the car stopped on the summit. We took the jack out to move the car, but it wouldn’t budge and we thought that was it…But Stéphane and Jean-Paul arrived very quickly and got us out of this mess. We then pushed hard to limit the damage. I think anything can still happen. But we know that eventually the time will come to think about guaranteeing a Peugeot on-two at Beijing.”
“We were useful”
Stéphane Peterhansel (Pilote, Peugeot DKR2008 n100) :
“We ran close to Cyril who lost his momentum on a dune, then he headed toward Séb and Daniel who were stuck on a dune. Jean-Paul literally dug a crater around the jack to get it out of the way and put in back in place. It is nice to be useful to our team mates and to all the same set the 3 rd best time.”
“Navigation error”
Yazeed Al Rajhi (Driver, MINI All4 Racing n°103) :
“We got a great start, despite it being difficult to follow the pace of the Peugeots. We lost 3-minutes due to a navigation error. I think we need to aim for the final podium now and wait for a possible problem from one of our rivals.”
“Change of pace”
Andy Schulz (Co-driver, MINI ALL4 Racing n°105):
“Sometimes Harry has a tendency to want to drive too fast when he is battling with other cars. At this point in the rally, we are now in the top five. Now I think it is in our best interest to take the fewest risks possible and our spot in the general classification should head in the right direction as we head to Beijing.”
“A nightmare”
Martin Van Den Brink (Driver, Renault ‘Sherpa’ K520 n°301) :
“We were really good in the dunes. But then it was a nightmare. In the 30kms of fesh-fesh that came after the dunes, my truck couldn’t go faster than 80kph. The Kamazs left me like I was standing still! We have to finally get this engine cooling problem fixed because the rest of the rally could be even more demanding than it was today.”
“Exhaust problem”
Anton Shibalov (Driver, Kamaz n°303) :
“We were forced to stop 30km from the finish to fix a broken exhaust line. The heat melted a flexi line on the air intake system. That cost us more than 15 minutes.”
«Hard physically”
Airat Mardeev (Driver, Kamaz n°306) :
“The stage suited us perfectly: sand and suns, but it was really tough physically due to the heat. At some place it was 55° outside and even hotter inside the cab! The air-conditioning was broken from the start and the ventilation was blowing hot air. We finished the stage in slow-mode because I was wiped out and I was afraid I would make a mistake. Today, was tougher than yesterday but a lot nicer…”
