From Spain to Senegal
Champion Fontenay favored for Paris-Dakar
Posted: Wednesday December 30, 1998 06:02 PM
PARIS (Reuters) -- Defending champion Jean-Pierre Fontenay and his Mitsubishi team are favorites for the Paris-Dakar rally which starts in Granada on Thursday.
The 21st rally will see 850 competitors from 32 countries battle over 16 stages through Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso and Senegal.
For the past decade, wealthy official teams like Citroen and Mitsubishi have dominated the 9,052-kilometer event and Mitsubishi, the only team with full support from their mother company, are strongly fancied again this time.
The last two winners, France's Fontenay and Japan's Kenjiro Shinozuka, both drive Mitsubishis and the Japanese car maker still have the most impressive supporting team with five lorries and a huge crew of mechanics.
Mitsubishi was reinforced by a promising pair of Germans, Jutta Kleinschmidt and Tina Thorner. Kleinschmidt was the first woman to set a fastest stage time in the last rally.
Frenchman Jean-Louis Schlesser, beaten in each of his 11 attempts by the leading teams, looks more threatening than ever thanks to the support of French carmaker Renault.
He has improved his assistance team and will team up with experienced Spaniard Jose Maria Servia, who will drive the second Schlesser-Renault Buggy.
Fast-improving Nissan will be the other team to watch, even though they are aiming for victory in the longer term.
Spain's Salvador Servia, France's Thierry Delavergne and former motorcycle race winner Stephane Peterhansel could all mount a serious challenge.
France's Peterhansel won the motorcycle title a record six times, including last time on a Yamaha.
In the motorcycle section, the race looks open with Italian Edi Orioli, riding a KTM, the only former winner in the competition. But KTM and BMW are probably the two teams with the best chances in the grueling race.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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