THE SECOND BATTLE HAS CONCLUDED

The second stage of the Dakar proved to be perfect for the former WRC drivers with fast, sweeping tracks favoring a “Typical” Rally type car. Volkswagen had another strong day with El Matador Carlos Sainz didn't disappoint as he claimed his second straight stage win. Also, Bruno Saby, Mark Miller and Jutta Kleinschmidt finished in the top ten.

All the while American Robby Gordon was once again turning many heads in his Hummer as he finished 13th. "Most Dakar competitors and race fans have never seen anything like this Hummer," said Gordon. "They tend to concentrate on smaller, high-revving engines, which I don't believe have as good of a chance of success in North Africa's huge sand dunes as my V-8 engine Hummer."

Tomorrow, stage three will be the first African stage on the Dakar Rally. After arriving at Nador via ferry from Europe, teams will embark upon a 237 kms liaison section to the start of a 314 kms special stage, east of Guercif. This section runs south towards the first overnight bivouac at Er Rachidia. This stage crosses several wadis and requires navigational skills. Then a 121 kms road section will take teams to the overnight stop next to the local airport at Er Rachidia.

Robby is doing really well by sticking to his strategy. While watching the IR Tracking last night at 4AM, Robby had his spurts of quickness by running faster than Carlos, Miller and the others. At times he was much quicker than all of the top guys in several of the sections. Right now he sits eight and a half minute behind the leader and could very easily make this up tomorrow. He has a great advantage starting approximately 25 minutes behind Carlos. He will just follow his trail right up to his bumper for the victory. I expect Robby to be firmly being in the top five overall by the end of the day tomorrow. Robby is not going to fall for "The Rabbit" this year!