There was no doubt, there were hopes
No one even slightly familiar with the rally-raids had no doubt in the outcome of the fight at the XII Paris Dakar Rally.
Should have won the most modern and advanced technology, large deposits of money in equipment and service teams and riders unlimited resource professionals. This is from all the participants more fully meet the French team Peugeot, the last four years has consistently been successfully serving the African routes. But we, of course, primarily interested in the possibility of another team of French importer of Soviet machinery of Jean-Jacques far. Was it reasonable to include it directly in competition Lada in the sands of Dakar? Development of a prototype project team based on our model was implemented for the first nine months, and its construction in just three. I've always been convinced that the real machine can be driven only by participating in competitions. This is a required step, according to the Belgian driver Jacky Ickx, who became the trump card of French project called Samara. At the rally there is no rule that would guarantee anything. Indeed, Mitsubishi stands in Paris Dakar for seven years, but always the loser. We are just a small team, without going to any comparison with the Peugeot and Mitsubishi, and never for a moment pretended to compete with them this year. Besides, as he explained, this time there was too much damage because the current race was faster than ever, and this affected the technology.
Fourth place on a special stage in Ghadames, then in eighth place in the next, then the eleventh ... X was satisfied with such results.
South de Shonak, technical project manager, in turn, as outlined difficulties. First of all, it is impossible to speculate what might happen with the car in technical terms. And you certainly are not a master of the situation and can not know anything about what happens during, say, 600 miles. At this time, there may occur problems, and at night you have no opportunity to try to find some solutions, because tomorrow morning, the machine must once again hit the road. So, here we find ourselves deprived of opportunities to try to better understand our new car.
Shining health Peugeot cars represented as a sharp contrast to those who tried to keep up with them, which perplexed and discouraged competitors simultaneously. Moreover, the organization of a Peugeot flawless. The team was represented by a real armada of fifty engineers, a dozen aircraft, ensured timely delivery of necessary parts and literally leading his car on the track racers. It was said that in the twelfth rally Paris - Dakar Peugeot is not stingy, and has invested in this case 350 million francs! Of course, the firm has enough funds corresponding to the level of its sporting ambitions, but that others, such as Mitsubishi also invested a lot of money without achieving, however, such a result.
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