Zoom Christian Lavieille.

This loop around Idri, most probably the trickiest stage of the whole rally, brought no changes in the overall classification. Christian Lavieille and François Borsotto are still 4th overall, having set the 6th fastest time of the day in their Proto Dessoude, having crossed a sea of sand. All three Nissan Pathfinder T2 were forced to retire after the problems during yesterday's stage.

Today's special stage sent shivers down the spines of those with little experience over sand, as three quarters of the distance was off-road. The first kilometres took the competitors down a track, with plenty of changes of direction. The track grew fainter, then turned into off-road through the dunes, before opening into a sea of sand for 80 km…

Extreme care was necessary, because the sea has waves which are difficult to see. The important thing was to keep on the right heading. The competitors then reached a pipeline, crossing even steeper dunes in the idyllic landscape of the Oubari erg. Heading north, still off-road, they reached the bivouac. But this stage only allows for one hour of assistance, before being placed in parc fermé until tomorrow morning. A true marathon stage…

Christian Lavieille and François Borsotto worked hard today to keep their 4th position in the overall classification: « A perfect start to the special stage, on the pace. At CP1, we did not get the right heading straight away, and we got a bit lost. There were so many tracks that it was not easy. It's difficult to gauge the lie of the land when you are off-road. We chose a track, and finally got back on the route. Errandonea and Holowczyk (who set off on sand tyres) caught up with us. Faster with the buggy, we remained behind Errandonea. At one point, 70 km from the end, I got beached like yesterday, on a small dune. We lost around 10 minutes. At the end of the stage, we missed a turning going into a saline lake, which lost us another ten minutes. The vehicle is perfect, no problems at all. »

This evening, due to the Marathon stage, they will only be able to work on the cars for one hour before going into parc fermé until tomorrow morning.

© CAPSIS International