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23rd Total Paris-Dakar Rally climbing, finishing 12th on the day, and sitting 14th overall. The stage was marked by an accident involving an assistance vehicle that strayed off the course and ran over a mine near the border. The Portuguese driver, Jose Eduardo Ribeiro, lost his foot in the explosion and was evacuated to the military hospital at Laayoune. January 9 saw veteran Cox tum in a scorcher of a ride, then boast afterward, "They were riding like grannies! At kilometer 170 [mile 105] I broke my chain and lost at least 10 minutes fixing it [actually, more like 20]. A hundred and fifty kilometers [93 miles] from the end I caught everybody up again." So fast was Cox that his time was 17 minutes quicker than that of overall-leader Sainct, in the space of just 204 miles! The stage was a strange one, based on the format of a yacht race - a first for the Dakar Rally. Riders completed a 321-mile loop with three GPS points serving as "buoys." The start and finish were in EI Ghallaouiya. "At the beginning, Roma followed the GPS waypoint, and I followed him," Sainct said. "But it turned out not to be the best solution. Eventually we found the others and all rode together - effectively neutralizing each other. " Fifth on the day was Meoni, saying, "If you open [the course], you can't ride flat out, and the others simply have to follow." The KTM rider nevertheless took over second place overall from Roma, nearly five minutes behind Sainct. Meoni nearly averted having his rally ruined: "Fifty meters from the end, I hit a big rock with my left-hand cylinder head and ripped off the bottom half of the cover. Fortunately, I managed to restart again and passed the finish line without stopping, just handing in my card as I rode through." The next day was a doozy, with the two riders most expected to fight for the win both dropping out in the 273mile stage. The KTM of overall leader Sainct ground to a halt at mile 208, and he had to wait for assistance, while Roma broke his leg in a crash and was transported by airplane to receive medical attention. This completely changed the complexion of the rally, with Meoni taking over the top position for the first time. Lewis also advanced a spot to sixth, while Campbell climbed to ninth, though both ridees were well behind on total time. This marked the halfway point of the rally, and the competitors were given a much-deserved rest day in scalding-hot Atar, Mauritania, on January 11, allowing a bit of time to recharge the batteries for the brutal African portion that remained. At this point, Meoni's chances already looked 34 FEBRAURY 7,2001 • cue I good, as the veteran is known as an exceptional navigator, an important skill for the sand dunes of Africa. In the fairly easy stage of January 12, KTM once again dominated as it did for much of the rally, taking the top eight positions on the day. The fastest one was that of Swede PerGunnar Lundmark, who finished the 280-mile test (and 314-mile day) ahead of De Gavardo and Cox. Meoni was seventh, retaining his lead, and Campbell climbed to eighth. The 405-mile stage of January 13 was won by Arcarons, but Meoni was less than a minute back, not giving up much to his main rivals. De Gavardo was third in the 360-mile special test, retaining that position overall, as well. This was the beginning of another Marathon stage, so the bikes received minimal maintenance before the follow- ing day's 332-mile stage, which was taken by Tiainen. (The Finn had finished 60th the day before!) The varied special test is considered one of the most important of the rally, and Meoni's top-five finish was good enough to retain the overall lead. Things were looking good for the Italian. Tiainen also won the January 15 stage from Tidjikja to Tichit, which was the last portion of the three-day Marathon section. The day was quite sandy, but rather short at 145 miles (almost all of which was special test), and steady Meoni was fourth, maintaining a lead of over 20 minutes. The next day's route followed a stage from 1999, though it was run in the opposite direction, from Tichit to Nema, near the southern border of Mauritania. The going was relatively slow, and riders attempted to con- The 481-mile January 17 course sent the racers into the country of Mali, where it finished in the town of Bamako. Navigation was once again important and difficult here, with many parallel roads and few points of reference, though the actual special test was just 133 miles in length. Cox was let off the leash by KTM, uncorking an impressive stage win to relieve his frustrations (he had complained the previous evening about being forced to play team tactics while teammate Tiainen was allowed to go out and "play"). "They probably thought that I was no good at navigation and that it wouldn't make much difference," Cox said. "As I won, I'm afraid that my orders might be different tomorrow. Whatever - ( had a great morning. The road book was perfect - it is such fun to race from the front." serve «:nergy for the brutal days to come - all accept Tiainen, that is. The e KTM rider once again blitzed to the day's win, besting the next-best rider by over 40 minutes! "I'm so far off in the general ranking [21 hours and 24 minutes) that I can drive as I like," the Finn said. "But I took no risks, and I also got a bit lost around the 320-kilometer [200-mile) mark. The others had to restrain themselves." With the rally getting nearer to the end, it became apparent that team orders were being issued by KTM. "Kari can play it solo," De Gavardo said. "We're aiming for a quintuplet win in Dakar. You've got to take that into account... At one point, Arcarons took a different route, but I waited for him, because we're doing a team race. The time for winning specials is over for me. I like fighting, but the next fight will be on the 2002 Dakar." In 14th place, over 16 minutes behind Cox, it was now Tiainen being news BMW had a Dakar Rally to forget, losing its top rider and having its overall-win streak broken. American Jimmy Lewis, who placed third last year, finished this year's rally In seventh, with a broken collarbone. a "good boy," saying modestly, "To be honest, given my current 'holiday tummy,' I wasn't in much of a state to do anything else." Meoni rode conservatively to protect his overall lead, saying philosophically, "( too would have liked to have ridden fast, but it was Cox who had that privilege today - and given the current situation I can:t really complain." On January 18, it was Sala's tum to be let off the leash, winning yet another stage for KTM. The top three - Meoni, Arcarons and De Gavardo again shadowed each other throughout the exhausting 500-mile day that skirted around the southern border of Baoule National Park and finished in Bamako, so there wasn't much change among the top few positions. The only excitement came when Meoni momentarily lost contact with his Spanish rival and teammate.