Dakar : after the firsts cars on leg oneNewcomer on the Dakar, Carlos Sainz (VW) clocked the fastest provisional time of the day`s 83km special. The Spanish two-time WRC World champion took advantage of his traditional rally experience to storm to an impressive final time of 56`19”. Second so far is his team mate Bruno Saby, 2`01" adrift. Sainz had clocked the fastest times at all three time checks and finished at an average speed of 88km/h.
Saby fastest so far…
With only two cars on the finish line, Bruno Saby on his Volkswagen race Touareg managed the provisional fast est time in 58`18”. Mitsubishi`s Stephane Peterhansel who took off first suffered a puncture and had to change a wheel… He finished the special in a time of 1h00`35”, some 2`17” adrift of the current leader. Carlos Sainz had managed the fastest time at the first check point, with an advantage of close to 50” on Saby.
Portuguese surprise!
While Cyril Despres started his quest to retain his bike title in style by clinching the day`s special win, the main surprise came from the Portuguese privateers. Indeed Ruben Faria and Helder Rodrigues managed to finish within the top 4. In the leading ten we have 3 French riders (Despres 1st, Frétigné 6th and Casteu 7th), 3 Portuguese (Faria 2nd, Rodrigues 4th and Goncalves 10th), 3 Spaniards (Coma 3rd, Esteve 5th and Pellicer 8th) and an Australian (Caldecott 9th).
Despres wins first special
Title holder Cyril Despres on his brand new KTM clocked the fastest time of the first special of this 2006 Euromilhoes Dakar. The Frenchman managed an excellent time of 58`10” on the muddy paths of the 83km course. Despres only just beat surprising early starter Ruben Faria of Portugal. The KTM biker finishes 4" adrift. Third is Spaniard Marc Coma at 7" while another Portuguese, Helder Rodrigues used to these familiar tracks, is fourth at 50".
Tags:
volkswagen,
touareg,
dakar,
carlos-sainz,
