Communique 3 - Bamako, Mali
Saturday 8 January 2000
Leg 3 Kayes - Bamako
Total distance: 711km - Special Stage: 245km

Mitsubishis Strengthen Lead on Third Leg of Dakar 2000

Japanese driver Kenjiro Shinozuka inched further into the lead on the third leg of the Dakar 2000 Rally, followed closely by fellow Team Mitsubishi Ralliart driver Jean-Pierre Fontenay of France, both in Mitsubishi Pajero/Monteros.

Both Shinozuka, co-driven by Frenchman Dominique Serieys, and Fontenay, navigated by Gilles Picard, enjoyed a relatively trouble-free day, apart from several punctures, in the heat and dust of the West African Savannah as they were blasting across the winding baked clay tracks, made rocky and hazardous by recent rain damage.

The route skirted the Boucle du Boule National park and wound around the eastern fringes of the Badinko Forest before plunging into the African bush with its dense vegetation and rolling hills before the finish in Bamako.

With only 245 km of competitive driving, it may not have seemed much of a challenge, but with no airborne assistance from mechanics the previous evening in Kayes, all the remaining 131 car competitors were depending upon the reliability of their machines. And although the stage was short, it was very rough and rocky, as Shinozuka reported: "Oh, that was a very bad stage fast, but with many very big holes. We had two punctures because of the rocks, but the car was perfect."

Fontenay agreed, adding: "It was a difficult stage, fast in places with many holes and rocky sections. I thought I could smell oil in the car, which made me worried, but there was no problem with the way the car ran. We had one puncture and changed the wheel during the stage, plus a slow puncture which we replaced at the end of the stage. With so many rocks I think everyone had the same problem."

It was, nevertheless, a long day, with a huge, tiring liaison section at 460 km from the end of the special stage to the Bamako bivouac, where even the leading competitors did not arrive until mid-evening.

Frenchman Jean-Louis Schlesser ended the day in third position after a concerted effort to attack the dominating Mitsubishis in his buggy, but Pajero/Montero crew Hiroshi Masuoka of Japan and Andreas Schulz of Germany were hard on his heels in fourth position. It is all still very close in the top 10 with only 10 minutes approximately between Shinozuka in first and all-girl crew Jutta Kleinschimdt of Germany and Tina Thorner of Sweden in eighth in their Mitsubishi Pajero Montero, despite the fact that they had several punctures on today’s stage.

Kleinschmidt reported: "We had three punctures today. It was very frustrating. We lost a lot of time."

Further down the field there was more action in the T1 category for standard cars, with Andretta jumping to second in his Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero and Frenchman Guinot holding onto fourth in a similar car.

Tomorrow, the remaining competitors will tackle the fourth leg of the event, crossing the border again, this time into Burkina Faso were they look forward to a warm welcome in Bobo Dioulasso. The leg will be 608 km long with 286 km driven competitively, again mostly through the Savannah and bush on tracks of baked clay.

POSITIONS ON STAGE 3

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION AFTER LEG 3