Storming ahead

Today's leg from Tichit to Kiffa was part of a marathon stage. It went perfectly well for Andreas and me. After 41.4 kilometres, there was an explanation in the roadbook which was obviously not easy to understand for many drivers. After many bikers got lost already, my team mates Hiroshi Masuoka and Jean-Pierre Fontenay also headed into the wrong direction. 

However, Kenjiro Shinozuka and we found the correct track at this junction. Still, the leg didn't start trouble-free for us when we lost time due to a misfiring engine. At the first CP, we had lost 1.34 minutes to our Japanese team mate but Kenjiro didn't have a clear run either when he had to stop to change a punctured tyre. Surprisingly, there was rain in the desert today. The sand was deep and muddy until we reached the first CP.

Then we knew we had to go for it. When the track became technical and demanding, we've been attacking in the utmost fashion. Some 200 kilometres from the finish, however, we realized that we'd got a slow puncture. We decided to use the Pajero's tyre inflation system to keep the tyre working. But it wasn't an easy time for us as the system isn't operated through a compressor but through an oxygen reservoir which was empty five kilometres before the finish. Fortunately, the BFGoodrich tyre made it to the finish.

It was a great feeling to be rewarded for this maneouvre with our second stage win and a lead of 17 minutes over Kenjiro Shinozuka in today's classification. In the overall classification, we moved up on second place and we are 16.47 minutes ahead of Kenjiro now. 

We closed the gap to Hiroshi by a full 33.54 minutes today. Thus, his lead in the rally has been reduced to 18.28 minutes. I can't wait for the second part of this marathon stage now before we finish in Dakar on Sunday.

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