Flying high

On today's ninth stage, we won a leg of the 2002 Dakar Rally for the first time! And I want to emphasize that "we" won it: I am very thankful to my co-driver Andreas Schulz who prepared meticulously on Sunday. His navigation was perfect - otherwise you are not able to gain an advantage of 5.34 minutes anyway. 

Atr the beginning of the Atar-Atar loop, we drove in a Mitsubishi convoi of three cars but then we were on different tracks after 100 kilometres. Dunes but also stony tracks were characteristic for today's leg. The BFGoodrich tyres on our Mitsubishi Pajero worked faultlessly in these tough conditions. 

We've been attacking and we've reduced our gap roughly by one fifth - we are very, very happy. We remain third overall, but everything is possible. Sometimes, luck can change instantly as we've seen today when Stéphane Peterhansel had technical gremlins. We had been happier if there was a stronger opposition. But now, eight Mitsubishi drivers hold the top eight positions, another Mitsubishi contender is in tenth spot. I am looking forward to the next challenges.

Find current results on the Dakar website or on the Mitsubishi website.