Stephane Peterhansel Quotations

It was a very difficult stage with many sand dunes and some camel grass.

It was a really fast stage today, especially at the beginning,

This morning I said that a Buggy could be leading tonight and I was nearly right. It was a very fast stage. We were fine with the navigation, but we did not expect to win the stage today. I will start in sixth place in the morning and I feel that this could give me a little advantage. We will see.

This second victory is a confirmation of my new status as a car driver,

The car has run more than 15 000km since the beginning of the year and is fully tested. That fact makes me confident for Dakar 2006 but the overall win is still open to everyone.

It has been quite a time since I was last in a rally car and I was a little unsure about my pace on the high speed sections. I felt fine in the technical sections and through the small dunes, but judging distances at speed was not easy. It will take a little time to regain that confidence, but I am pleased and surprised to be leading. I need to train my eyes to adjust to the fast terrain over the next few days.

We had to stop to change another tire and lost more time. I will not have fond memories of my passage through Portugal on the Dakar Rally.

It was a pretty nice stage today, it was fun, technical with a lot of sliding,

Today's stage was quite varied. There were places where you needed to be very careful. It was muddy in parts and some puddles of water stood in sheltered areas. Other places were much faster across rural farmland and you could push a little, but after the puncture we had no chance of setting a fast time.

Today's stage was difficult with the number of bikes and cars running closely together. I kept my distance to stay out of the dust and avoid hitting a rock or a big hole in the track.