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Viewed by a very large number of spectators assembled all round Stanislas Square in the heart of the town of Nancy, the 50 motorcycles, 37 cars, 5 trucks and 9 Raiders left Thursday evening for about 1200 km of road which were to enable them to reach the first bivouac in Hungary after having crossed Germany and Austria at dawn. Most of the motorcyclists had the possibility of putting their machines on trailers until the Austro-Hungarian customs. However some of them dared not to!! Having left Nancy in a group, these experienced motorcyclists drove for more than 16 hours, under very difficult conditions… Well done! They were all there at the meeting place in Veszprem, quite tired and still as motivated as ever for the race still to come. Under driving rain over most of the distance, all the members of the Master Rallye 2000 arrived Thursday evening, sometimes very late, even in the night, at the bivouac in Veszprem. Whereas the day and the setting up of the bivouac had been damp but bearable, the night arrived with a monstrous storm of wind and rain which forced the logistics, for obvious safety reasons, to take down the Big Top under which the evening meal and René Metge’s competitors briefing should normally have taken place. After a very short night’s sleep due to the late arrival of some, and to the bad weather, the whole organisation took to the road this morning. As the rain had ceased, it was firstly, as usual, the motorcycles which left first from 6:00 am for the first special of the day (SS2) : Sala in the lead on KTM n°6, Despres on Honda n°3 followed by Perez on Husaberg n°4, De Gavardo on KTM n°8, Meoni (KTM n°1) and Miroir on Honda n°11… The first cars took to the road at 7:10 am: Kleinschmidt / Thorner (Mitsubishi n°202), Servia / Lurquin (Schlesser n°201), Magnaldi / Borsotto (Mercedes n°212), Lartigue / Polato ( Mercedes n°206), Alphand / Debron (Schlesser n°204)… SS2 Veszprem – Szekesfehervar – 57,18 km : With the storm of the day before, the special which normally should only have been a little muddy over the first 14 km, became a pool of mire for all the competitors. On a very slippery track and with impracticable conditions of visibility, the motorcyclists at the arrival of the special were covered from head to foot. All of them made it to the finish without major problems other than this mud bath.1 : Cox, 2 : Sireyjol, 3 :De Gavardo. Schlesser and Magne in Buggy n°200 were also at the finish of the special in a sorry state: "The mud really made the special very difficult. After only a few metres it had covered the wind-screen… we could not see anything! It was a hard time!". 1 : Servia/Lurquin, 2 : Delavergne/Dubois, 3 :Schlesser/Magne. Also some difficulties for the Mercedes 207 Onyx GDC of Lansac and Jacquemard who had a problem with the alternator. As the assistance trucks had been a little delayed by the traffic, they had to wait for them to make the necessary repairs. Everything was sorted out just in time to take the departure for the next special. The 133 kilometres of road section between Szekesfehervar and Soltvadkeri allowed all the vehicles to " spruce up ". SS3 Soltvadkeri – Kiskunfelegyhaza 38,00 km : A little respite for the competitors. This time it was on sandy terrain that the second special of the day and the last in Hungary took place. Alphand / Debron in their Kangoo/Schlesser encountered problems with their gear-box that they were able to repair, but they wasted a lot of time. At 7:30 this evening, they had only just made it to the Rumanian boundary. They still have to run over 300km to reach the bivouac in Beius. No motorcycle rating for this special. The motorcycle competitors’ time was not able to be validated. Then 286 km of road sections brought the competitors to Rumanian soil. The road was beautiful but passing through customs sometimes took a long time. The first Rumanian special SS4 Astileu – Rosia was cancelled for safety reasons as the helicopters were unable to fly over the event under the conditions planned. This evening the whole Master Rallye 2000 caravan is at the splendid bivouac of Beius in green and sumptuous scenery. Everyone will be dry and pleased to be so! ! The first motorcycles will leave the bivouac tomorrow morning at 6:30 am, the cars at 7:10 am to go to the departure of the special SS5 in Pietrosa. A special of142 km in the woods with steep and stony ascents and crossings of clearings as well as small villages in the forest. Press Department MMG-MASTER RALLYE: [Return] [Top of Page]
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