GRANADA-DAKAR 1999
Communique 4
LEG 3: AGADIR - TAN TAN
Distance: 510 KM
Stage distance: 230 KM


TAN TAN, MOROCCO,
SUNDAY, January 3, 1999

Kleinschmidt Makes History to Become
Mitsubishi's First Lady on Dakar Rally

German lady Jutta Kleinschmidt and her Swedish co-driver Tina Thorner became the first ever all-female crew to lead the famous Dakar Rally on leg three of this year's event, driving their Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero 2m 18s faster than their nearest rivals over 230km of rocky tracks and dry riverbed crossings between Agadir and Tan Tan today, January 3, 1999.

The rocky tracks along the searing heat of the Draa Valley took their toll on today's surviving competitors, with many of the leaderssuffering multiple punctures. Of the top cars only Kleinschmidt and Japanese Pajero Sport /Montero Sport driver Hiroshi Masuoka, co-driven by German Andreas Schulz, managed to avoid the sharp, tyre-shredding stones. Masuoka was second fastest on the third leg, moving up to second overall.

Said a delighted Kleinschmidt in the warm sunshine and relaxed atmosphere in the fishing village of Tan Tan: "I'm really thrilled to be the first ever woman to lead the Dakar overall. In the beginning of the stage I took it easy, but when I saw that the others were having problems I decided to go for it and see what I could do."

Masuoka added: "The stage was very stony and there were lots of jumps, but I enjoyed it very much. We had no punctures.....the suspension worked very well."

Leg 2 leaders, French pair Jean-Pierre Fontenay and Gilles Picard, dropped to fifth after losing nearly 12 minutes with two punctures on their Team PIAA Mitsubishi Ralliart Pajero/Montero. Megane buggy driver Jean-Louis Schlesser also suffered with tyre blowouts but managed to lose only six minutes to his ex-team mate Kleinschmidt to jump from ninth overnight to third.

Typically generous, Fontenay was delighted for his fellow Mitsubishi driver Kleinschmidt, commenting: "She drove a fantastic race. Punctures or no punctures she took 12 minutes off us at the end of the day. We had two punctures at 100 km and again at 130 km. After that we had just one spare so we had to take it very easy."

First leg leaders Miguel Prieto of Spain and his French co-driver Dominique Serieys ended the day in fourth place in their Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero, just one and half minutes in front of Fontenay, while Jose Maria Servia finished the leg in sixth overall in his Schlesser Megane buggy.

Said Prieto: "Just one puncture for us, which is not too bad. The car is working really well."

Japanese driver Kenjiro Shinozka suffered most with punctures, losing nearly 20 minutes to fall from second place to ninth in his Team Mitsubishi Oil Ralliart Pajero, while Nissan rivals Salvador Servia and Thierry De Lavergne jumped to seventh and eighth respectively having avoided major problems.

A disappointed Shinozuka reported: "We had our first puncture - the leftrear - but we could not undo the wheel nut, so it took a long time to replace the wheel. When we started off again, I could feel something else wrong, and it was another puncture on the right rear this time. I thought I drove very carefully, but this is the Dakar and you get punctures here!"

Mitsubishis are still dominating the T1 category for standard vehicles holding the top four positions, but last night's shock Leg 3 leader, ex-world champion skier Luc Alphand of France, dropped to sixth in the class when he suffered a puncture. French pair Jean-Francois Guinot and Manfred Kroiss grabbed the lead followed by Neil Woolridge/Kenny Skjol Dhammer and Brazilians Arilo De Alencar and Alexandre Thomaz, all driving Mitsubishis.

Tomorrow, Monday, January 4, 1999
LEG 4: TAN TAN -
Distance: 515 KM
Special Stage: 451 KM

Leg 4 will certainly be the toughest so far at 451 km heading across the border wall between Morocco and Mauritania and into the Sahara Desert for the first time this year. After crossing the border into Mauritania, the remaining competitors will face fast, open sandy terrain, typical of the desert, before finishing at the rest halt at the old French military base at Bir Mogrein for the first time in the Dakar's history.

3rd stage, Agadir-Tan Tan / Total 510km, SS 230km
Sunday, January 3, 1999

�@�@*The time, under 2nd position is the difference from the top.