Dakar : Team Gauloises Sperrer - Leg 6The Gauloises Team Raphael Sperrer finished the first day in Mauritania at Zouerat after a gruelling 792km drive and a 444km special stage with an excellent time of 04:10:05.
On day six of Dakar 2006, the Buggy drivers fought back
from yesterday's bad luck to climb to 47th in the overall classification.
"This was our best day yet," said Sperrer. "It was a really long but we didn't have any major problems and could prove just how fast we can go. We left Tan Tan at 3am this morning. Driving in the dark was another new challenge and we did very well. The first part quite surprising as the track was quite wide which meant we could overtake quite easily. This was a welcome relief after the tight, twisty tracks we've had to tackle over the past few days. It was still quite dusty but nothing compared with the last legs. It was quite good fun to drive through the sand here as it's quite different to what we've seen so far. I almost felt like I was driving through powder snow ¬ which I'm more used to! I am glad I am carrying the Fisher skies on the top of my car. At least I think more often about home. I had lots of fun today and it was a great result."
Ole Floene added: "Setting off in the very dark night was pretty exciting. We managed to keep to plan and we had a much better day. We had no major problems today and I could concentrate fully navigating through the sandy, challenging special stage. Tomorrow we'll continue in Mauritania towards Atar. The stage will be 521km only, but there will be almost another 500 km of special stage with more sand, mud and soil towards the end of the day which was more in keeping with what we've already tackled. Tonight after our sixth stage, we've completed 3,859km, but still have 5,184km to go. Our good run today means we've climbed up to 47th. I hope I can continue giving Raphael the right directions and advice to help us climb even further up the order over the next few days. "
Press release Team Gauloises Sperrer
