Blog Lisbonne Dakar 2008 - Luc Alphand - Par Sandy Divelec

Luc Alphand, Gilles Picard, Dominique Serieys, and several members of the Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart team had the privilege to visit the Valeo Veszprem production site in Hungary.

They discovered the factory and spent time for pictures and signature sessions.

The team was warmly welcomed by the employees...and they were impressed by the professionalism and the working methods of Valeo's production site.

The research and development department was very interesting. The testing methods are very strict and controlled. Nothing is left to chance!

A big thank you to all of the Valeo Veszprem employees for having taken the time to welcome us as we had a wonderful afternoon!

Maybe we'll see each other once again for the second edition of the Central Europe Rally in Hungary next year?!

Mitsubishi Pajero 14_2704
Vidéo envoyée par Sandy_Dakar

During the Sunday morning co-drive, Hiroshi Masuoka continued to work and test the MPR 14 diesel car. The Veszprem military camp served as the training base for the Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart team as the diesel engine still requires slight improvements before the 2009 Dakar.

The moral of the Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart crews is not the best this Thursday morning of April 28th.

Their lack of performance yesterday is bothering them.

Therefore at the morning breakfast, the team manager, Dominique Serieys, took the matter on hand:

"Our objective is to win. We know our force and our weaknesses. We have to fight to the end and not let the task of overtaking us easy. Place the pressure on the adversaries. I have confidence in you and I know you do good work!"

RDV later today with the results...

Monday 21st of April, the drivers of the Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart team were invited to a dinner organized by Mitsubishi Motors Romania.

The co-drivers did not attend the dinner as they had much work to do for the next day's stages.

Invited to a restaurant in Baia Mare, the drivers were interviewed by the local television station and the papers. They also took the time to be photographed with Romanian fans.

Upon our arrival, a local alcohol was served which was very strong!

During the dinner, our hosts delighted us by having a traditional Romanian dance group performs while we were eating. We much appreciated the hospitality of Mitsubishi Romania and the warm welcome we received.

Thank you very much!

All the technical staff went to bed at 04h00 in the morning on Monday in order to ensure the cars would be ready for the start of the second special.

The first special was short on Sunday as only 63 timed kilometers in Hungary, however there was 410 km of liaison after this special. The crew members arrived at 19h00 at the assistance park in Baia Mare in Romania.

As for the Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart assistance trucks, they reached the assistance park at 22h00. After a quick supper, the mechanics and engineers went back to work.

The assistance trucks are always the last ones to leave an area and the last ones arrived at the next. On days where the distances are long, it's hard to organize the work otherwise. Sometimes they are able to relay by sending half of the team to one point and the other half to another yet this ideal situation does not happen often.

Depending on the day's stages and the instructions given by the management, the program changes. After the work until 04H00 in the morning on Monday, the technical staff was allowed sleep in until 09h00!

On the other hand, the crew members had a good nights sleep and are in tip top shape!

Once the race started, we travelled 70km to reach the assistance park organized by ASO, which was also the arrival line of the 1st special stage.

I'm still amazed at the quality of the team logistics. Nothing is left to chance and everyone seems to know what to do! The mechanics, engineers, logistics, and management form a stong team...