2008 FIA INTERNATIONAL CUP FOR CROSS COUNTRY BAJAS (ROUND 3/6) BAJA ESPANA ARAGON (JULY 17-20, 2008) Saturday July 19, 2008 Leg 2 (interim report after SS3)
ALPHAND AND MASUOKA FIGHT TO JOIN MITSUBISHI TEAM-MATE ROMA ON PODIUM
Luc Alphand/Gilles Picard (France) posted the second fastest time on Saturday morning’s opening stage (SS3) which took crews to the north of host city Zaragoza. The Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution MPR13 driver has closed to within less than a minute of the provisional top-three. Nani Roma/Lucas Cruz (Spain) are still second after claiming the fourth quickest time, while Hiroshi Masuoka/Pascal Maimon (Japan/France) were fifth in the diesel-powered MPR14.
Conditions for the 133.12km run from Villamayor to Huesca were once again dry, bright and sunny, with temperatures already up to 25°C despite the early hour. The stage itself was globally faster than Friday’s terrain, but a good two-thirds were still reasonably twisty through the region’s lower-lying fields.
All the drivers reported suffering from the hanging dust, however. This was made worse when heading into the sun, and Luc Alphand – who is feeling much better today – described the sensation as “like driving in fog”.
After their early start, crews had a chance to work on their machines during the mid-morning service break in Zaragoza before tackling the longest stage of the rally. However, the organisers have chosen to shorten SS4 (Longares-Alcaniz-Belchite) from the originally planned 238.16km to 211.63km. The day ends with the first of the weekend’s two visits to the Principe Felipe/Colin McRae memorial show stage (SS5, 1.00km), named in memory of the former World Rally Champion.
Nani Roma (Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution MPR13 N°4):
Position on SS3: 4th
Overall position after SS3: 2nd
“It was quite tough this morning. The combination of hanging dust and the low morning sun made visibility very difficult and we knew straight away that we were likely to lose time. But that’s the way it is. It’s up to us now to profit from this afternoon’s long stage to keep the pressure on Al-Attiyah. It won’t be easy because the terrain is much faster and more suited to the diesel cars, but we can’t allow him to think he can relax. We have no intention of giving up the fight”
Luc Alphand (Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution MPR13 N°3)
Position on SS3: 2nd
Overall position after SS3: 4th
“I haven’t totally recovered but I feel much better today. I’ve managed to eat, I slept well, and that makes a huge difference! Our objective today is to try to make it back into the top-three after the disappointment of losing ground so close to the end of yesterday’s final stage. We managed to claw back a little time this morning but today’s roads are much faster and there was lots of hanging dust, especially in the valleys for the first 25km or so. It was almost like driving in fog in places, especially with the low sun. There’s a breeze now, so hopefully we will get a clearer run this afternoon, although overtaking could be difficult if we succeed in catching the car in front”
Hiroshi Masuoka (Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution MPR14 N°10)
Position on SS3: 5th
Overall position after SS3: 5th
“The engine felt great this morning and it was nice to feel all that power and torque, especially over the 40km or so that were particularly fast with some nice long straights. The other two thirds of the stage were a little twistier, but dust was the big problem and that prevented us from making full use of the MPR14’s potential.”
