DEFENDING
AUTO CHAMPION, Stéphane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi):
"... We have carried out a lot of testing with the car since the
last Dakar Rally ... I won both the Tunisia and Morocco rallies with
the Pajero/Montero Evolution MPR10 and we were delighted with the performance
of the new MPR11 during the recent competitive test in the UAE Desert
Challenge. The revised car is more stable in the dunes and over fast
ground, has more torque than the MPR10 and should be more competitive
on this year’s Dakar."
DEFENDING
MOTO CHAMPION, Joan Roma (Mitsubishi) - has switched to cars
and joined the championship winning Mitsubishi factory team.
".... This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for me to join
Mitsubishi Motors for the Dakar ... I have witnessed the successful
transition that Stéphane and Andrea have made from motorcycle
riding to rallying on four wheels and hope that I can repay the team
with a good result."
3
times
Paris-Dakar winner Richard Sainct died last year during the Pharaohs
Rally.
KTM (Claudia Patuzzi):
"... Not a single day passes without thinking of Richard
(Sainct). Losing him has made us develop a great deal of team spirit.
All of us are motivated to win the Dakar. This Dakar is dedicated to
Richard! "
2003, 2002
CHAMPION, Hiroshi Masuoka (Mitsubishi):
"... It has been a quiet year for me in terms of competition since
the Dakar Rally ... One of my goals was to win the UAE Desert Challenge
and I achieved that at my sixth attempt in October. That was a great
result for my confidence. The team has tested the revised car in Morocco
and there have been some marked improvements. I am confident that I
can take my third Dakar victory."
2001 CHAMPION,
Jutta Kleinschmidt (Volkswagen):
"... Barcelona is a fabulous location to start the rally. I love
this place, and in fact toured the city and enjoyed the typical Tapas
the day before technical scrutineering. The people here love motorsport.
The prologue on the beach will certainly be sandy. I'm hoping that the
conditions for the second prologue in Granada on the 2nd January will
be dry as last year the track turned into a complete mud bath due to
the rain. I always feel sorry for the lovely new cars. I've been very
active over the last few weeks. I was at a navigation event in Hanover,
and whilst I was there completed a short function check with the new
car."
1988 CHAMPION,
Juha Kankkunen (Volkswagen):
"... I'm really pleased that it's finally going to get under way.
It is my first 'Dakar' since my victory in 1988. However, I'm not nervous.
After all I've been competitively involved in motorsport for 25 years
and am familiar with the various challenges and different vehicles.
In the meantime I feel very as one with the Volkswagen Race-Touareg.
I drove the vehicle for the first time almost six months ago. Since
then we have tested intensively and I competed in my first rally in
Dubai."
ROOKIE RIDERS
INCLUDE:
Chris Blais, US (KTM): "... I am well prepared
for the Dakar, drove several races in the desert and am in great condition
for this huge rally. I manage my KTM 660 Rally well. The motorbike is
new for me but we go together well. And within three years I want to
be under the top three drivers."
Great vintage
for the Telefonica-Dakar 2005! Motorcycle entries closed
For the first time
in its history, the Dakar is closing the motorcycle entry list in September.
All records have been beaten. The organisers are now having to refuse
further motorcycle entries, and four months before the start!
“The Dakar
has had to close motorcycle entries at the end of the summer, barely
two months after they opened and a full four months before the start.
We should be having nearly 230 motorcyclists starting from Barcelona
on 1 January next. We are delighted to be so full! It has never happened
before on the Dakar” reports Etienne Lavigne, Head of organisation.
“We set a limit of 200 machines, as in other years, but motorcycle
entries have been arriving in bulk. After getting the agreement from
the French Motorcycle Federation and checking out the technical and
logistics aspects, we decided to increase the number of participants
and take some thirty more competitors. As one of our main concerns was
for everybody’s safety, we are allocating additional resources:
an extra medical helicopter as well as more stewards. But we have nonetheless,
with a heavy heart, had to refuse about fifty competitors and close
motorcycle entries”.
As regards cars
and trucks, although the limit has not yet been reached, current numbers
(90 cars and 38 trucks) are 50% up on last year at the same time!
All categories included, 400 started on 1 January last year (195 motorcycles,
142 cars and 63 trucks). How many are there going to be at Barcelona
on the starting line in 2005? The official number of entries will be
reported at the press conference on 17 November.
Nationalities
More than 37 nationalities have entered already. An increasingly international
Dakar with competitors coming from every continent: the French represent
a mere than 31% of the total, ahead of the Spanish (13%), Belgians (11%),
Dutch (9%) and Italians (8%).
