Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

(Left) Richard Sainet won the rally through consistency. (Right) Giovanni Sala (pictured) traded wins with Fabrizio Meon; for much of the event, but they couldn't overcome the overall consistency of Sainet. (Italy) was unable to get help on one special stage until Derrick Edmondson (GB) came along and gave him a tube. This lasted 100 yards due to not having a hole drilled in the rim to take a security bolt; he rode on the rim for 30 miles, destroying that as well. By the early African stages Richard Sainct (France) had already pulled out a lead, with Roma and Meoni trying to keep in touch. When the riders set off on the two marathon stages, Ghadames to Ghat to Sabha, the conditions had settled down, and the battle was on. Sala won the second marathon stage, and Meoni scraped into the lead with 34 seconds over Sainct. The other KTM "works" riders were all up there looking for an opening, while the first alternative make was the Honda of Jun Mitsuhashi, the Japanese Enduro Champion, in 17th place. Next day, Nani Roma stuck his neck out too far and found himself on the plane home. This was his second serious fall in two years; possibly he will reflect that the DakaT may not be for him. Britain's Patsy Quick was settling in carefully, having declared that this was her intention. But even caution doesn't guarantee safety in this event. Trying to navigate by GPS and roadbook, studying the terrain in swirling dust and hiding from the rocks thrown up by passing cars and trucks mean riders will inevitably hurt themselves. This happened to Patsy when she fell at speed on a stony track, where apart from bruising, she suffered a broken knee brace that pierced her skin. The medics reserved judgment about allowing her to continue when they had stitched the wound, as they feared an infection. The next morning Patsy joined the greater mass of limping riders at breakfast. Watching them in the halflight at 6 o'clock was like studying a scene from a war. As the African stages wore on, it became obvious that riders like Richard Sainct and P G Lundmark (Sweden) didn't agree that the big twins were naturally going to win. While allowing others to win stages, Sainct settled down in the lead. Even Meoni had to wait until Stage 11 before he saw his name at the top of the day's results. He was putting a lot of effort into closing the gap on Sainct, maybe too much effort, as he suffered what he called the worst crash of his career, dropping him well back. Isidre Esteve had followed fellow Spaniard Roma home, highlighting everybody's thoughts that maybe the 950 twin was a little too difficult to ride over rocks. Meoni and Sala seemed to be coping, just barely, illustrating just how good they are. The organizers had declared before the start that they expected the bike entry to be down to half by the midpoint, and they weren't far from wrong. The sweeper truck brought the retirements into the bivouac each night and piled them up for shipment to Paris. Many machines were robbed of useful spare parts as team mechanics struggled to keep bikes in working order. Lawrence Noble (Bermuda) declared he couldn't ride fast enough and retired. Many of us wouldn't have put it that way; we would have invented another reason. Price was continuing to have mixed results, often in the top third then finishing last when things went wrong. His ready smile had earned him a lot of friends in the evening bivouacs; this slipped on one occasion when he found out about the deals that Rally Raid U.K. offered. He had spent twice as much as he needed to and struggled with the French speaking organization. RRUK's turnkey package would have meant that all he needed was his boots and helmet. Aspiring competitors should note that the team presence includes three all-wheel-drive support trucks and two Nissan-assistance 4x4s. It also offers turnkey packages on BMW-powered space frame cars. Quick had been attracting a lot of interest both at the event and in the media back in Britain when the news of her shock retirement was announced. She had been unlucky and had fallen badly when jumping down from a dune and had taken the full weight of the bike. Fortunately, an organization helicopter crew that was overhead had seen it happen. Their prompt action saved her life; she was qUickly airlifted to the hospital, where she was operated on for a ruptured spleen. Her main adversary, Frenchwoman Astrid Pichegrain on a KTM, took the lead in the Ladies competition. She continued to ride well and won the class. As the course crossed into Egypt through minefields, a World War 11era mine exploded and damaged the rear wheels of a KTM support truck. Every other vehicle then had to spend the night beside the track while the army chiefs made anew, safer path through the hills. Early the next morning, it was a eye I ... n slow, dusty procession of vehicles that crossed the high plateau to make the safe haven at the Siwa oasis in time for breakfast. Everyone enjoyed the rest day, though the mechanics all had plenty of work to do rebuilding machinery. The next stage started and finished at Siwa, and, as Sala and Meoni traded daily wins, Sainct steadily increased his lead. He was demonstrating his desert skills; Hubert Auriol, the Dakar chief, commented that Sainct was one of the few riders who had everything under control. If either Sala or Meoni could have dominated the daily results, he would have challenged him, but other riders such as P. Lundmark (Sweden), Pal Ullevalseter (Norway) and Cyril Despres (France) kept interfering. During the final two stages it was obvious that Sainct backed off slightly to safeguard his win from Cyril Despres. Surprisingly, Meoni made it onto the podium in the end but was more than 37 minutes behind the winner. A top-half-of-the-entry finish eluded Price, but he was satisfied to be there at the end, an achievement considering his lack of support. Hopefully more U.S. riders will make the trip next year and take advantage of Rally Raid's help. The domination of KTM was complete: apart from Matsuhashi's Honda in 16th place, they took places down to 33rd. Even KTM agrees this is not a healthy situation. Ideas being considered for the future include an engine-size limit of 450ccs, which will encourage some other makers who presently do not feel that it is worth contesting the event. Allowing for all the hardship, long grinding days in the saddle, and days without the aid of GPS, over 50 firsttime bikers arrived at the finish. The shimmering blue of the Red Sea made a welcome change from the desert scenery, and the hotel pool was soon full of happy people glad to be rid of the desert dust. eN e _ so • FEBRUARY 26, 2003 25

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