Blog Lisbonne Dakar 2008 - Luc Alphand - Par Sandy Divelec

On the occasion of the official presentation that was held late in the afternoon at the Théâtre Marigny in Paris, Patrice Clerc, President of Amaury Sport Organisation and Étienne Lavigne, director of the Dakar, have unveiled the main lines of the course of the next edition in the presence of Carlos Enrique Meyer, Argentina’s State Secretary for Tourism and of Jaime Pizarro Herrera, State Secretary for Sports of Chile. Returning from a series of reconnaissance taking place in both countries of South America that will be welcoming the Dakar for the first time, Étienne Lavigne gave out some information on the event that will take place from the 3rd to the 18th of January 2009.

On the vast Argentinean and Chilean territories, a large loop of 9 000 kilometres including around 6 000 kilometres of specials, will have to be covered by the competitors to reach Buenos Aires, start and finish place of the race. By first of all heading south towards the landscapes of Patagonia, the drivers and riders will then have to cross the Andes Mountains before enjoying a rest day at Valparaiso on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The return trip will then take them to the Atacama Desert and notably to the Argentinean provinces of Catamarca, of Rioja and of Cordoba.

The Dakar that has a vocation to discover unknown territories for off-road rally amateurs will cross over the Atlantic Ocean for its 2009 edition. The calendar has therefore been adapted in order to allow the shipping of the vehicles to Argentina’s capital: a first phase of technical and administrative scrutineering will take place on the 26th and 27th of November at Le Havre where the European vehicles will be boarded on ships. The organisers of the rally have announced the opening of the period to send registration files as of the 15th of May. During a month, the competitors that had registered for the 2008 edition of the Dakar will benefit from a priority.

The major dates of the 2009 Dakar

• 15th of May - 30th of June 2008: reception of registration files
• 26th - 27th of November 2008: first phase of technical and administrative scrutineering at Le Havre.
• 31st of December 2008 - 2nd of January 2009: second phase of technical and administrative scrutineering at “La Rural” Palace in Buenos Aires.
• 3rd of January 2009: start of the first stage from Buenos Aires, on the “Plaza de la Republica”.
• 10th of January 2009: rest day at Valparaiso.
• 18th of January 2009: finish in Buenos Aires

Spaniard Carlos Sainz (VW) passed through waypoint 2 (113 km) in the lead, 3'31” ahead of Stephane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi), who stopped for 1 minute just before waypoint 1.

After the cancellation of the 2008 Dakar, the organizers of this event decided to create a new rally for the competitors this year. They officially launched the 2008 Dakar Series with the first event being held in Hungary and Romania from April 20th until the 26th. This new event being called the Central Europe Rally brings the cross-country competitors onto new terrain.

The www.valeo-motor-sports blog chose to follow the adventures of the REPSOL MITSUBISHI RALLIART team on this new rally and will be on line until April 28th. The race will be finished on the 26th however members of the team will visit the VALEO factory in Veszprem on the 28th!

Please do not hesitate to send me your questions and comments. It’s with great pleasure that I’ll do my best to respond…

We’re on our way for 9 days of rallying.

With my friendly regards,

Sandy

Aftre a couple of hours passed in the car to go from Lisbon to Portimao, I arrived in the press room at 12h30. The 4 crews of the Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart team just arrived after 117 km of the special stage! The order had been given to our boys to stay in the front group however not to push too hard on this first stage. They must stay competitive however not risk an accident. This order was followed by the team members in results.

Except for Luc Alphand who had a flat tire, the crew members are only seconds apart...

Hello everyone,

At 08h30 we were at the Belém centre downtown Lisbon where a full crowd was waiting for the participants. It's amazing how much the Portuguese are fans of motor sports. Both Portugal and Spain have a much bigger interest in mechanical sports than France. Our crew members are treated like real stars! They are asked for autographs and many pictures. I can't help but admire them in front of such a warm welcome.

As I absolutely wished to show you images, I asked the firemen if it would be possible to climb onto their truck to film as at 1m60 I am too small to film over the crowds heads! Also, only the organisers are allowed to follow them on the road from the paddock to the start podium.

After a couple of minutes of hearty negotiations, the fireman accepted and accompanied me as the view was much better from above!

Please have a look at the images…