STEPHANE PETERHANSEL / JEAN-PAUL COTTRET
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LUC ALPHAND / GILLES PICARD
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JOAN ROMA / LUCAS CRUZ
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The penultimate day of the 2008 Central Europe Rally continued at the same fast and furious pace that has marked this new event since the beginning of the week. However, it turned out to be a little less successful leg for Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart: Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret (France) have lost the lead they have held practically non-stop since Monday after dropping an estimated 40 seconds on this morning's test, although only 18 seconds separate the French pair from the new leader, Carlos Sainz, this evening. The fight is far from over!
The scrap is proving just as close for third place, too, since Luc Alphand/Gilles Picard are up to fourth place this evening, just seven seconds adrift of Depping (Germany). The bad news for Mitsubishi today, however, is the loss of Nani Roma and Lucas Cruz (Spain) who were forced out with a mechanical problem while running in third position this morning.
"It's turning out to be a very close thing and the pace is exceptionally fast, so to have two cars still in the fight for top places on the last day against a field of such talented drivers is particularly gratifying," says Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart Team Director Dominique Serieys (France). "It says so much for the potential and reliability of the Pajero/Montero Evolution, especially against the new generation of cross-country rally-raid cars, but also for the ability and cool-headedness of our drivers. I am obviously disappointed for Nani but that's the sort of thing that can happen when it gets this fast. Tomorrow, Stéphane and Luc will both be looking to gain a place. It's in their hands now, and all I can say is: 'May the best man win!'"
Ironically, Stéphane Peterhansel lost the majority of his time today in the dust of his team-mate, Luc Alphand. "I caught Luc after about 100km into this morning's stage and I couldn't get past, so I had to sit in his dust and I reckon that must have cost us around half a minute," reckons Peterhansel. "This afternoon, I did everything I could to make up for the lost time. I took as many risks as I dared and it ended up paying because we have cut the deficit back down to 18 seconds, and Jean-Paul and I will give it everything we can tomorrow to try to get back ahead of Carlos."
The morning stage took place in bright warm weather, but the conditions turned colder in the afternoon, and there was even a little rain as Luc Alphand did his utmost to pass Depping in the overall standings. "We've got nobody on our heels behind us on the leaderboard now, and Depping is seven seconds ahead," explained the Frenchman. "Our choice for tomorrow is simple: either we just sit back and cruise home to fourth place or we give it everything we can to try and finish on the podium. Believe me; I have every intention of going for the second option! We went straight on into the woods at one point on this afternoon's stage and that must have cost us perhaps ten seconds, otherwise we might have been on the podium tonight. But at the pace we're going, you've got to expect this sort of incident because this is the fastest cross-country rally I've ever contested! I'm obviously sorry to have held up Stéphane this morning."
Today's main loser in the Mitsubishi camp was Nani Roma who was going well in his bid to defend his overnight podium position until he was forced to retire with a broken right-hand steering tie-rod with about 40km of the long stage remaining. "It happened at about 50/60kph, so at least we've got that to be thankful for," said the Spaniard. "It was a fast stage and it could have been a very different story altogether at 120kph. I have to say, though, that I didn't feel total happy with the handling of my car up to that point, but I think I could have kept third place. On the positive side, it's been a challenging and very interesting rally. The car came through some extremely tough conditions extremely well indeed and our performance this week on such a closely fought event has left me feeling optimistic for the rest of the season. The first class job put in by everyone in the team has a chance of being rewarded by a top result for Stéphane and/or Luc tomorrow and I will be following that very closely indeed"
The final day of the rally features just one stage: another long competitive run (155km) that will take survivors from Veszprem to the finish of the rally near Balatonfured at 15h27 on Saturday afternoon.
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1
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Carlos Sainz
Michel Perin |
E
F |
VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG 2 |
1:37:23 |
**:**:**.* |
2
|
Stephane Peterhansel
Jean-Paul Cottret |
F
F |
MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO EVOLUTION |
1:37:51 |
0:28 |
3
|
Guerlain Chicherit
Matthieu Baumel |
F
F |
BMW X3 CC |
1:39:24 |
2:01 |
4
|
Luc Alphand
Gilles Picard |
F
F |
MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO EVOLUTION |
1:39:35 |
2:12 |
5
|
Dieter Depping
Timo Gottschalk |
D
D |
VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG 2 |
1:39:39 |
2:16 |
6
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Robby Gordon
Andy Grider |
USA
USA |
HUMMER H3 |
1:40:26 |
3:03 |
7
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Robert Baldwin
Kevin Heath |
USA
USA |
HUMMER H3 |
1:40:44 |
3:21 |
8
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Carlos Sousa
Andreas Schulz |
P
D |
VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG 2 |
1:43:08 |
5:45 |
9
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Bruno Saby
Alain Guehennec |
F
F |
BMW X3 CC |
1:43:57 |
6:34 |
10
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Philippe Gache
Francois Flick |
F
F |
BUGGY SMG |
1:47:32 |
10:09 |
11
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Miroslav Zapletal
Vladimir Nemajer |
CZ
CZ |
MITSUBISHI L200 |
1:49:25 |
12:02 |
12
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Michael Petersen
Matthew Stevenson |
USA
GB |
BUGGY WIDE OPEN |
1:50:45 |
13:22 |
13
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Toni Van Deijne
Wouter Rosegaar |
NL
NL |
MITSUBISHI L200 |
1:51:53 |
14:30 |
14
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Laszlo Palik
Gabor Darazsi |
HON
HON |
NISSAN D40 NAVARA |
1:51:58 |
14:35 |
15
|
Sandor Kis
Peter Czegledi |
HON
HON |
NISSAN PICK UP |
1:53:18 |
15:55 |
1
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Robby Gordon
Andy Grider |
USA
USA |
HUMMER H3 |
32:58 |
**:**:**.* |
2
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Carlos Sainz
Michel Perin |
E
F |
VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG 2 |
32:59 |
0:01 |
3
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Stephane Peterhansel
Jean-Paul Cottret |
F
F |
MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO EVOLUTION |
33:11 |
0:13 |
4
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Robert Baldwin
Kevin Heath |
USA
USA |
HUMMER H3 |
33:17 |
0:19 |
5
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Dieter Depping
Timo Gottschalk |
D
D |
VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG 2 |
34:05 |
1:07 |
6
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Luc Alphand
Gilles Picard |
F
F |
MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO EVOLUTION |
34:15 |
1:17 |
7
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Carlos Sousa
Andreas Schulz |
P
D |
VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG 2 |
35:42 |
2:44 |
8
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Bruno Saby
Alain Guehennec |
F
F |
BMW X3 CC |
35:51 |
2:53 |
9
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Philippe Gache
Francois Flick |
F
F |
BUGGY SMG |
36:19 |
3:21 |
10
|
Guerlain Chicherit
Matthieu Baumel |
F
F |
BMW X3 CC |
36:44 |
3:46 |
11
|
Miroslav Zapletal
Vladimir Nemajer |
CZ
CZ |
MITSUBISHI L200 |
37:10 |
4:12 |
12
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Stephane Henrard
Serge Bruynkens |
B
B |
VOLKSWAGEN BUGGY TDI |
37:30 |
4:32 |
13
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Michael Petersen
Matthew Stevenson |
USA
GB |
BUGGY WIDE OPEN |
37:39 |
4:41 |
14
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Balazs Szalay
Gyorgy Toth |
HON
HON |
CHEVROLET BLAZER 4X4 |
38:10 |
5:12 |
15
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Toni Van Deijne
Wouter Rosegaar |
NL
NL |
MITSUBISHI L200 |
38:24 |
5:26 |
1
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Carlos Sainz
Michel Perin |
E
F |
VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG 2 |
2:10:22 |
**:**:**.* |
2
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Stephane Peterhansel
Jean-Paul Cottret |
F
F |
MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO EVOLUTION |
2:11:02 |
0:40 |
3
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Robby Gordon
Andy Grider |
USA
USA |
HUMMER H3 |
2:13:24 |
3:02 |
4
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Dieter Depping
Timo Gottschalk |
D
D |
VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG 2 |
2:13:44 |
3:22 |
5
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Luc Alphand
Gilles Picard |
F
F |
MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO EVOLUTION |
2:13:50 |
3:28 |
6
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Robert Baldwin
Kevin Heath |
USA
USA |
HUMMER H3 |
2:14:01 |
3:39 |
7
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Guerlain Chicherit
Matthieu Baumel |
F
F |
BMW X3 CC |
2:16:08 |
5:46 |
8
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Carlos Sousa
Andreas Schulz |
P
D |
VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG 2 |
2:18:50 |
8:28 |
9
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Bruno Saby
Alain Guehennec |
F
F |
BMW X3 CC |
2:19:48 |
9:26 |
10
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Philippe Gache
Francois Flick |
F
F |
BUGGY SMG |
2:23:51 |
13:29 |
11
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Miroslav Zapletal
Vladimir Nemajer |
CZ
CZ |
MITSUBISHI L200 |
2:26:35 |
16:13 |
12
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Michael Petersen
Matthew Stevenson |
USA
GB |
BUGGY WIDE OPEN |
2:28:24 |
18:02 |
13
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Toni Van Deijne
Wouter Rosegaar |
NL
NL |
MITSUBISHI L200 |
2:30:17 |
19:55 |
14
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Laszlo Palik
Gabor Darazsi |
HON
HON |
NISSAN D40 NAVARA |
2:31:22 |
21:00 |
15
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Sandor Kis
Peter Czegledi |
HON
HON |
NISSAN PICK UP |
2:32:41 |
22:19 |
1
|
Carlos Sainz
Michel Perin |
E
F |
VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG 2 |
9:40:37 |
**:**:**.* |
2
|
Stephane Peterhansel
Jean-Paul Cottret |
F
F |
MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO EVOLUTION |
9:40:55 |
0:18 |
3
|
Dieter Depping
Timo Gottschalk |
D
D |
VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG 2 |
9:46:44 |
6:07 |
4
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Luc Alphand
Gilles Picard |
F
F |
MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO EVOLUTION |
9:46:51 |
6:14 |
5
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Carlos Sousa
Andreas Schulz |
P
D |
VOLKSWAGEN RACE TOUAREG 2 |
10:09:54 |
29:17 |
6
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Bruno Saby
Alain Guehennec |
F
F |
BMW X3 CC |
10:20:53 |
40:16 |
7
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Robert Baldwin
Kevin Heath |
USA
USA |
HUMMER H3 |
10:33:48 |
53:11 |
8
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Philippe Gache
Francois Flick |
F
F |
BUGGY SMG |
10:38:02 |
57:25 |
9
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Miroslav Zapletal
Vladimir Nemajer |
CZ
CZ |
MITSUBISHI L200 |
10:41:11 |
1:00:34 |
10
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Toni Van Deijne
Wouter Rosegaar |
NL
NL |
MITSUBISHI L200 |
11:01:07 |
1:20:30 |
11
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Robby Gordon
Andy Grider |
USA
USA |
HUMMER H3 |
11:01:50 |
1:21:13 |
12
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Sandor Kis
Peter Czegledi |
HON
HON |
NISSAN PICK UP |
11:16:16 |
1:35:39 |
13
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Stephane Henrard
Serge Bruynkens |
B
B |
VOLKSWAGEN BUGGY TDI |
11:16:38 |
1:36:01 |
14
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Balazs Szalay
Gyorgy Toth |
HON
HON |
CHEVROLET BLAZER 4X4 |
11:30:32 |
1:49:55 |
15
|
Janis Azis
Ainars Princis |
LVA
LVA |
OSC OSCAR |
11:43:24 |
2:02:47 |
