STAGE 6: 'Changing strategies'

Dominique Serieys, 47, is Mitsubishi Motors' general director. He won the Dakar in 1993 as rally champion Bruno Saby’s co-pilot.


Disappointed. “Luc Alphand had a bad shock when he saw his co-pilot lose consciousness. They were stuck in a bog when suddenly Gilles Picard felt bad and fell unconscious. It’s not too serious, and his condition is now stable. But the game is over for them, and that affected them very much."

New strategy. “Stéphane came in fifth in this round and is sixth in the general rating. We’re going to change strategies. Untill now, we were careful not to break our cars. Now we need to pressure ourselves into a comeback. These past seven years our rivals have vastly improved their performances. They deserve to be congratulated, but now we need to catch up. Even if at the moment we’re 40 minutes behind, anything can happen.”

The Terry dilemma. “I’m not part of the Amaury Sports Organization. I manage a rally race team. But knowing Dakar’s technical and medical staff, I can say they would never leave a participant behind out of carelessness.”



STAGE 5: 'Now we're in the thick of it'
STAGE 4: 'We mustn’t fall behind'
STAGE 2: 'We're at the same level as the Volkswagens'
STAGE 1: 'With all that dust, there are risks of hitting a motorcycle'
D-1: 'Go to sleep and rest for tomorrow'
D-2: 'Pilots are ready to get started'