AN EXCELLENT WEEK’S WORK
The inaugural Central Europe Rally saw Mitsubishi's Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret narrowly fail to reap the benefits of an excellent week's work, which saw them top the leader board for the majority of the event. They were passed by World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz on the penultimate day and were unsuccessful in their bid to bridge the gap on the final day. Fellow Pajero Evolution MPR13 crew Luc Alphand and Gilles Picard did everything they could to join their team mates on the podium, but failed to make up the seven-second deficit that separated them from third place.
"Although they didn't win, I have to congratulate Stéphane and Jean-Paul for the fantastic job they have done this week," underlined Team Director Dominique Serieys. "This event has shown that our discipline has nothing to envy other forms of rallying in terms of intense, exciting competition, with some pretty outstanding drivers and some genuinely sophisticated machinery."
"The pace was extremely fast from the start," said Peterhansel. "I have very rarely driven so quickly in a cross-country rally before. The competition reached its peak on Friday afternoon when I took as many risks as I dared to get back in front of Sainz. I then tried very hard again this morning, but I dropped about 50 seconds when I went slightly off course and that sort of gap just couldn't be made up without running the risk of throwing everything away. It was far better to settle for second place."
Luc Alphand started the final day on the heels of Dieter Depping and intent on passing the German to end up on the podium. His efforts were to no avail, however, and the former World Champion skier finally finished fourth. "Our Pajero/Montero Evolution went perfectly, and the fact that we missed out on a podium finish by just 54 seconds after more than 1,000 km of stages shows just how close it has been all week.”
