6 January 2007 - 21 January 2007 | Lisboa > Portimao
- Total connection 4309 km
- Total special 3606 km
- Total 7915 km
Portraits
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Alphand: “I’ve become a good African”
He missed out on Olympia. He triumphed in Dakar. By switching from snow to sand after a first sporting career that he ended up in glory, Luc Alphand didn’t necessarily think that he would conquer the most impressive of all rally-raids, although his hunger for competition hadn’t disappeared after the gold and crystal he had conquered on white slopes. With experience, “Lucho’’ got used to long efforts and first started by winning a stage (in 2003), before proving he was competitive enough to join Mitsubishi’s prestigious team where only possible winners are fit to stay. In 2006, for his eighth appearance, he was at the height of expectations when he saved the ‘diamond’ brand that was under serious threat after Peterhansel’s Guinean disaster. With this first victory he really entered a very small circle of champions: “I could have started getting teased by the others, I was indeed the only one never to have won anything”, jokes Alphand.
After the January triumph, the remaining part of the 2007 season leaves bad memories in the mind of the title holder: “it’s both my best season and the most difficult one: I won three rally-raids (Dakar, Patagonia-Atacama, UAE Desert Challenge), I managed some very good races on normal circuits (7th of the Le Mans 24h…), but on the other hand I suffered a bad crash in Tunisia that forced me to remain inactive for six months, but the worst of all was the death of Henri Magne during the Morocco rally. Like all the members of the team, we were devastated by the news”, explains Luc.
Considering that the best way to pay tribute to Henri Magne is by winning the Dakar, the duo of title-holders, Luc Alphand - Gilles Picard, have focused on the preparation of their big January appointment. The challenge should be favoured by the new version of the Pajero Evolution that has just come out of the Mitsubishi workshops. Even more reliable and powerful, the MPR 13 satisfies both the co-driver who feels less confined in the cockpit: “the car has improved in terms of comfort and space so it’s easier to stay focused. And when one gains in concentration it means extra minutes won!’’. Picard’s demonstration is quite clear. Alphand will on his side be counting on his winning experience: “I have become a good African”.
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Marc Coma (SPA): “There is no favourite’’
Marc Coma has the talent and determination that only a few have. Proof of that is his regular progression for a few seasons that made him get closer and closer to the big title. And so he eventually triumphed in January 2006 for the 28th Dakar that he outclassed, beating Cyril Despres behind whom he had finished runner-up the previous year. The Spaniard therefore confirmed at the age of 29 a trajectory full of hope ever since he started competing in rally-raids. His first performances (4th of his first Dakar in 2002, 11th the following year despite a broken wrist and perfect team mate during Nani Roma’s triumph) had quickly shown his potential. Since 2005 he has regularly played the first parts and will start the 2007 event as the favourite.
A status that he can now assume on a sporting point of view but that his knowledge of the race makes him refuse: “there are no favourites, he explains, but several riders with good options on final victory”. The season that has just gone by pleads in favour of Coma who really looks to be the man to beat. After conquering the World championship title thanks to three victories (Dubaï, Morocco, Egypt), the KTM Repsol team leader will show up in excellent shape on his brand new KTM that he had all the time to test these last few months.
Marc Coma has indeed all the arguments to repeat the perfect race he managed last year. “We haven’t changed anything because the team worked out well last year. We only renewed our plan of action and worked. We worked a lot to prepare for the Dakar”. Coma is only worried about some of the features of the 2007 edition: “The marathon stages can bring a lot of surprises because both man and machine will be solicited, especially after the first of three in Morocco that shows up very early in the race”. A good opportunity for the title holder to show that he is fully mature.
Chagin: "Aiming for the record"
With five victories out of eight participations, the Russian Vladimir Chagin, at the wheel of his Kamaz 4x4, will again be the major favourite at the start in Lisbon. This 29th edition is all the more important for the Kamaz-Master team leader since he could equal the record for victories in the category currently held by his illustrious elder Karel Loprais. "Of course I’m thinking of Loprais’s record, but being title-holder is the most difficult position", admits the Russian, who will celebrate his 37th birthday the day before the start.
After a disappointing 18th-place finish in 2005 due to running out of fuel in the terrible 7th stage between Zouerat and Tichit, Chagin admirably dominated the field in the following edition, making his mark from the start with 6 stage victories in a row out of a total of 7 successes during the rally. Even before the long Mauritanian stages, the Russian was 2 hours ahead of his nearest rival and finished the race 2 hours and 21 minutes in front of his runner-up, the Dutchman Stacey. In addition to the ‘Tsar’s’ fifth success, the 28th edition of the Dakar was the 7th victory for the Kamaz team, who now head the roll of honour for victories per constructor, one ahead of their traditional rival Tatra.
The whiz-kid of the truck category has an almost faultless track record! In 1996, a first for Russian motor sport, Vladimir Chagin became world rally-raid champion. He took part in his first Dakar, finishing fifth in the general rankings. The rest of his career spelled out his driving talents: in 1999, he was victorious in the Desert Challenge, then won the Dakar – Cairo, claimed the Italian Baja and triumphed in the rally of Tunis in 2000.
Now the time has come for the 2007 edition, Chagin is remaining especially cautious. "The competition will be tough. Hans Stacey and the De Rooy’s will challenge hard". It is indeed in the Russian’s interest to be quick out of the starting blocks in order to control his rivals, just like he was able to during his first 5 triumphs.
Christian Dequidt: "I’m a farmer-biker"
You cannot ignore him. Christian Dequidt starts off by pronouncing, "I’m not married to my bike". Two-wheelers are a hobby he enjoys, but not his passion. Nonetheless, Christian Dequidt is sufficiently keen on the sport to have already started seventeen Touquet endurance rallies and three Dakars in 2001, 2002 and 2003. With mixed results, however: three abandons and several injuries, including a broken ankle and wrist. But his real passion is the environment. A farmer by profession, it is primarily his job that led Christian to the Dakar. "My bike is very special. In a way, it’s an organic bike and I’m bringing my farm with me", explains the farmer.
Christian Dequidt claims to be a "farmer-biker", but refuses to be labelled a "green", and recoils at the idea, having never campaigned for the abolition of any motor race! On the contrary, Christian Dequidt thinks that it is possible to combine motor sports and environmental concerns. Scarcely had the law on bio-ethanol fuel been voted in the French parliament, then he was at the French Senate to discuss his own experience.
With the Dakar, the farmer-biker intends to attract media focus to his cause. His case is simple: "We will be able to replace petrol with plants. Nevertheless, we will have to change our habits and lifestyles. This is the message I’m trying to get across with my bike. It’s sending out a message for the future". His quest is not a new one. In 2001, he already attempted the Dakar with a motorbike powered by bio-ethanol, in short, beetroot juice which he produced himself. This year, the list of ingredients is longer: the pistons bathe in canola oil, the mud guard is made of corn starch and his overalls are made of natural linen. "I’ve produced all these components myself", the farmer points out proudly. "I hope that the farmer-biker and his plant-powered bike will have an impact on public opinion…" A dyed-in-the-wool inventor, Christian Dequidt is a veritable Professor Calculus with his plant-powered bike. It could almost be said that his list of engineering components resembles a cooking recipe…
Jean-Louis Juchault: "An ethical and civil action"
For both men, this is almost their first Dakar, Jean-Louis Juchault having simply tried out the race in a truck last year. They are setting out on an adventure with a capital ‘A’, fond of a nature excluded from the concrete jungle of our modern cities, looking for the unexpected and discoveries, far from civilisation.
And that is not all. It is not even the prime objective. This is a dream moment to leave western individualism at home; the opportunity to do something of mutual benefit. Jean-Louis Juchault and Xavier Rolet wanted to give a collective meaning to their rally and so decided to give all the money put forward by the sponsors of their car to the association Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). "I’ve always been lucky enough to be able to fund my races", explains Jean-Louis Juchault. "Today, I’d like to use this luck that I’ve had to give something back through actions which are beneficial to all. It’s both an ethical and civil action".
This is not piecemeal humanitarian aid or amateur charity work, but a genuine project that they have been conducting in a professional manner for several months. The initiative has enabled them to provide the MSF association, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1999, with a cheque for 180,000 Euros. Xavier Rolet expresses his satisfaction, whilst refusing to take all the glory for the success of his project: "Our initiative is generally in keeping with the image of the Dakar, a rally in which the concept of mutual aid is at the heart of the adventure. This idea has been around since the beginnings of the Dakar and this is why it met with such a good response from the many sponsors who have chosen to support us".