Communique 13 - Waha, Lybia
Tuesday 18 January 2000
Leg 12 Waw El Kebir (Lybia) - Waha (Lybia)
Total distance: 661km - Special Stage: 657km

All Change in Libya for Dakar 2000

Today’s massive 661 km leg of the Paris-Dakar-Cairo Rally across the heart of the Libyan desert saw a complete change in the leaderboard as cool conditions and fast, hard surfaces played into the hands of the buggies with their high top speeds. Leaders of nearly the entire event up until today’s finish at Waha, Team Nisseki Mitsubishi Ralliart Pajero/Montero crew Kenjiro Shinozuka of Japan and Dominique Serieys of France, dropped to third as buggy driver Jean-Louis Schlesser of France grabbed the lead. Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel moved up to second place in his Mitsubishi-powered Mega Desert.

It was a long and very fast special stage which was always going to suit the buggies better, and the cold Libyan winter conditions ensured that the desert sand remained firm after recent heavy rain and high winds, allowing high top speeds to be reached. Shinozuka also admitted to getting lost briefly.

He explained: "Today’s stage was very suitable for Schlesser. I drove flat-out today but his buggy has a much higher top speed, and I lost my way for a time. I would like to recover first place tomorrow".

Peterhansel agreed: "The ground was simply too fast - very, very fast - faster than I expected".

Despite the change in lead Shinozuka remains confident. As Schlesser himself pointed out, "there are 3,000 km to go!"

Gilles Picard, co-driver to Jean-Pierre Fontenay in the Team Mitsubishi France Pajero/Montero revealed: "It was too fast today - both our side windows blew out with the force of the wind. It slowed us a little for the last 200 km but I do not think we could have done much better because the sand conditions were so hard and fast".

Jutta Kleinschmidt of Germany, who is navigated by Swedish lady Tina Thorner in the Team Mitsubishi Germany Pajero/Montero, added: "This was buggy country, not made for ’real’cars like ours!"

Japan’s Hiroshi Masuoka, co-driven by German Andreas Schulz in his Team Nisseki Mitsubishi Ralliart Pajero/Montero had hoped that the stage would be more technical with more sand dunes, which would have helped the Mitsubishi’s do better with their superior handling and traction. But he revealed: "Although today was very long, I did maximum attack for almost the whole route. I could see some sand dunes but there was nowhere challenging enough where you might get stuck. I will just keep doing my best from now on".

For tomorrow’s leg, more of the same is expected with long fast stretches across a desert floor hardened by cold weather. Leg 13’s route from Waha to Khofra stretches on for 647 km, 610 km of which will be driven competitively. However, some dune crossings are expected during the last 120 km which could yet change the face of the event again.

POSITIONS ON STAGE 12

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION AFTER LEG 12