Dakar 2006: Team Nissan Dessoude - Scrutineering
The 28th edition of the Lisbon Dakar looks like being particularly strong, if the route and the quality of the teams are anything to go by. All the ingredients have, once again, been brought together by ASO (Amaury Sport Organisation) so that this year`s trip across Africa (after a start from Lisbon) can take place in the best possible conditions. The fifteen stages will be long and hard for all those taking part, who will be up against the clock . and the terrain.
Therefore, from January 2nd, after two special stages in Portugal, the ten Team Dessoude crews will set off in Morocco with just one aim : to reach Dakar ! The whole Nissan Dessoude family is ready, like an army before a battle, under the command of general André Dessoude. After entering nine cars last year, ten will line up on the starting ramp in Lisbon this year. André Dessoude, known affectionately as the « wizard of Saint-Lô », cannot hide his pride in such an achievement. He has been living this adventure for 24 years now, first as a driver and then as a team boss, and the love which ties him to this epic adventure is boundless. To the oft-asked question of what makes André Dessoude, now over 60, .run., he responds with these heartfelt words : « Every year, the requests flood in to drive our cars. The requests do not just come from French crews, they extend well outside the European boundaries. You only have to look at the nationalities of this year`s drivers. As long as I feel that wind blowing, I will carry on. All these requests push me to continue, and I love my team more than anything ! The day the telephone stops ringing, it will be a terrible day for me !”

André Dessoude, supported by Nissan for decades, does not intend to rest on his laurels. « I am both happy and proud of the team I manage. It is beautiful, friendly and very professional. Over the years, we have grown stronger, and the .key. people around me have my full confidence. Because, even if improvisation plays an important role in the Dakar, the trio made up of Michel Targez (chief mechanic), Dominique Peres (engine specialist) and Raymond Loin (coordinator of the mechanics) as well as Géraldine Deshayes, allow me to sleep soundly and to have less weight on my shoulders, while still being involved with everything.”

The Dakar is a real institution with Dessoude. The whole team gets underway, meaning 74 people (including the crews) who make up the soul of this nomadic structure, with nine trucks (three T4 and six T5) and five Patrol cars which carry the mechanics.

Team Dessoude will not be there just to be placed. The pride of the clan will be the Nissan Navara, in the hands of Portuguese driver Carlos Sousa (navigated by Jean-Marie Lurquin from Belgium). « I am very proud to have Carlos in the team. Taking the current configuration into account, and on an event like the Dakar, he is the ideal driver. He is very consistent and good at endurance, being able to manage the length of such an event. He uses his head, without excess zeal or getting carried away. Moreover, he respects the men and their work, as well as his vehicle. It is a real delight to work with him. »

They could create a surprise in this Dakar, particularly as Christophe Chapelain, Nismo engineer and “father”. of the Navara will watch over his .offspring. with his usual professionalism.

A coherent team, full of ambition, as shown by the duo of Paul Belmondo and Bernard Irissou, or René Metge and Bernard Chevalier, back for yet another year.

Rally driver Benoît Rousselot is back in the .Production. class, better prepared for his second participation, without forgetting the « Miguels », Barbosa and Ramalho, who need no further presentation.

Behind the wheel of the two T1 Pickups, we will find the talented Polish driver Krzysztof Holowczyc, partered by Jean Marc Fortin from Belgium, and Jun Mitsuhashi from Japan, who won Nismo”s promotion programme, and who will be driven for the first time by .in-house co-driver. Jacky Dubois. The combination of the Japanese driver`s determination and Jacky`s experience could quite well create a surprise.

Faithful to his .promotion. philosophy, the two Chinese drivers Zhou Yong and Xu Lang will add some colour to the Nissan team, driving Nissan Paladin T1 vehicles, produced in China.

And this cosmopolitan team, made up of Japanese, Chinese, Poles, Portuguese, Belgians and, of course, French, will all work together in order to ensure that during this 28th crossing from Lisbon to Dakar, noone will leave the ship until they reach the port of Dakar, on January 15th.

Tags: dakar, nissan, dessoude, armada, lisboa,