COMMUNIQUE 6 6 January 2001 Ouarzazate - Goulimine Liaison 303 km - SS 305 km - Total 608 km

Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero Bivouac in Goulimine

The fast, dusty tracks along the Draa Valley floor in Morocco have favoured the lightweight buggies driven by Jean-Louis Schlesser and Jose Maria Servia on the sixth leg of the Dakar Rally 2001. Nevertheless, French pair Jean-Pierre Fontenay and Gilles Picard are holding on to third place behind Schlesser and Servia in their Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero, waiting for the desert sands of the Sahara where they know that their Mitsubishi’s superior traction will give them back the advantage. From Ouarzazate on the edge of the "Grand Sud", the first third of the sixth leg of the Dakar 2001 wound its way over tight, twisting tracks at the foot of the Atlas mountains before diving into the spectacular Draa Valley and across dry, stony riverbeds and rocky outcrops. Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero Evolution Team Nisseki Mitsubishi Ralliart Hiroshi Masuoka The weather remained relatively cool for this time of year, temperatures rarely rising above 20 degrees Celsius. Heavy cloud cover and light rain also lent a certain murkiness to the Draa region, an area famed for its beauty and dramatic scenery, but which today reflected the mood of the Mitsubishi drivers. Despite the rain, thick dust kicked up by the leading cars made the going much more difficult for those behind. The high-speed nature of the tracks favoured the buggies with their high top speed. As Jean-Pierre Fontenay said: "Our problem is that we are much heavier than the buggies. There is nothing I can do. All we can hope is that the situation turns to our favour once we get into the sand". Jutta Kleinschmidt, arguably the fastest female driver in cross country rallying, agreed. Stepping from her Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero, Jutta, who is co-driven by fellow countryman Andreas Schulz, commented: "Concentrating on not getting punctures meant we weren’t quite as fast as we might have been today. Let’s just hope that our prudence pays dividends in Mauritania". Schlesser won today’s 608 km sixth leg which contained a 305 km competitive section, increasing his lead over the nearest Mitsubishi, driven by Fontenay in third, by around 12 and a half minutes. But as the buggy driver himself admitted: "It isn’t much of a lead. In the dunes coming up it could be very easy to get stuck for half an hour". Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero Diesel Team Mitsubishi Spain M. Prieto / A. Velhinho Japanese driver Hiroshi Masuoka, co-driven by Frenchman Pascal Maimon, held firm in fifth place by the end of the day in his Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero, suffering delays in the dust. Portugal’s Carlos Sousa remained sixth in his Mitsubishi L200, followed closely by fellow Mitsubishi driver Kleinschmidt. Japanese/British pairing Kenjiro Shinozuka and Fred Gallagher remained in eighth place at the end of the leg in Goulimine in their Pajero/Montero. Not much further back, Israelis Nir and Eran Barkat were 10th in their Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero, despite getting delayed along with Spain’s Miguel Prieto, also driving a Mitsubishi, when they were blocked in the dust by a Kamaz truck. Prieto, co-driven by Alvaro Velhinho, now lies in 15th place overall. Tomorrow will be the last chance for some time for the buggies to press their advantage, with another fast, stoney stage in Morocco between Goulimine and Smara on the edge of the Sahara. The stage will be the longest so far this year at 420 km in an overall route of 489 km. But after Smara, it’s onto the steep sand dunes of the Sahara, where Mitsubishi has always reigned supreme.

Leg 6 - Ouarzazate - Goulimine SS 6 - 305.00 km - Saturday 6 January

Times on SS 6 1 J.L.SCHLESSER H.MAGNE SCHLESSER BUGGY RENAULT MEGANE 3.17.24.0 2 J.M.SERVIA J.M.LURQUIN SCHLESSER BUGGY RENAULT MEGANE 3.18.06.0 +42.0 3 J.P.FONTENAY G.PICARD MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 3.25.49.0 +8.25.0 4 H.MASUOKA P.MAIMON MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 3.26.37.0 +9.13.0 5 T.DELAVERGNE J.DUBOIS NISSAN TERRANO 3.27.46.0 +10.22.0 6 C.SOUSA J.M.POLATO MITSUBISHI L200 STRAKAR 3.28.12.0 +10.48.0 7 J.KLEINSCHMIDT A.SCHULZ MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 3.29.45.0 +12.21.0 8 B.SABY T.DELLI ZOTI FORD RANGER PROTRUCK 3.31.53.0 +14.29.0 9 K.SHINOZUKA F.GALLAGHER MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 3.32.45.0 +15.21.0 10 G.DE MEVIUS A.GUEHENNEC NISSAN TERRANO 3.36.19.0 +18.55.0 11 N.BARKAT E.BARKAT MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 3.41.06.0 +23.42.0 12 D.SKILTON M.STEVENSON KIA 3.43.21.0 +25.57.0 13 S.HENRARD J.M.MARTINEZ VOLKSWAGEN BUGGY 3.47.23.0 +29.59.0 14 D.HOUSIEAUX M.DOMINELLA NISSAN PATROL GR 3.53.44.0 +36.20.0 15 M.PRIETO A.VELHINHO MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 3.58.03.0 +40.39.0 19 K.KOLBERG B.CATTARELLI MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 4.04.15.0 +46.51.0 20 G.MARCY J.P.COTTRET TOYOTA 4.12.47.0 +55.23.0

Overall after SS 6 1 J.L.SCHLESSER H.MAGNE SCHLESSER BUGGY RENAULT MEGANE 8.41.14.0 2 J.M.SERVIA J.M.LURQUIN SCHLESSER BUGGY RENAULT MEGANE 8.47.11.0 +5.57.0 3 J.P.FONTENAY G.PICARD MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 8.53.53.0 +12.39.0 4 T.DELAVERGNE J.DUBOIS NISSAN TERRANO 9.02.28.0 +21.14.0 5 H.MASUOKA P.MAIMON MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 9.04.48.0 +23.34.0 6 C.SOUSA J.M.POLATO MITSUBISHI L200 STRAKAR 9.06.24.0 +25.10.0 7 J.KLEINSCHMIDT A.SCHULZ MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 9.08.18.0 +27.04.0 8 K.SHINOZUKA F.GALLAGHER MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 9.18.10.0 +36.56.0 9 B.SABY T.DELLI ZOTI FORD RANGER PROTRUCK 9.39.22.0 +58.08.0 10 N.BARKAT E.BARKAT MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 9.42.54.0 +1.01.40.0 11 G.MARCY J.P.COTTRET TOYOTA 9.59.08.0 +1.17.54.0 12 S.HENRARD J.M.MARTINEZ VOLKSWAGEN BUGGY 10.01.30.0 +1.20.16.0 13 D.SKILTON M.STEVENSON KIA 10.07.15.0 +1.26.01.0 14 K.KOLBERG B.CATTARELLI MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 10.23.55.0 +1.42.41.0 15 M.PRIETO A.VELHINHO MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 10.28.16.0 +1.47.02.0 19 D.HOUSIEAUX M.DOMINELLA NISSAN PATROL GR 10.40.46.0 +1.59.32.0 21 G.DE MEVIUS A.GUEHENNEC NISSAN TERRANO 10.42.43.0 +2.01.29.0