OPTIC 2000 — 1ST STAGE - RAS EL OUED-NEKRIF (325KM/ES1 288KM) (12.04.2006)
14 April 2006 - KTM-Sportmotorcycles AG

''Peter'' storms through...

Stéphane Peterhansel (Mitsubishi Pajero) won the first stage of this 25th Optic 2000 rally in front of his team mate Hiroshi Masuoka, and the VW racing Touaregs’ of Giniel de Villiers and Carlos Sainz. On the bikes it was Isidre Esteve (KTM Gauloises) who came in first, seconds ahead of his team mate David Casteu, all this in not too fun conditions.

On the bikes everybody was waiting for something a bit special from the Spanish Isidre Esteve. Having negotiated a seventh place, after strategicly holding off in the super special at Levens, he was comfortably where he wanted for the start. But even though he won this stage, the leader of the Gauloises KTM team only managed to gain 16 seconds (on the new KTM 660) over the time of his team mate David Casteu. Who left first this morning in those more than tricky visibility conditions , only to be first across the finish line aswell, having hit an impressive 178km/h.

The two “Blues” finished 4 minutes in front of the Norwegian Ullevalseter and 6 minutes in front of Messin Olmi, whereas Cyril Portal on the semi-Factory ride KTM( back after his accident 2years ago) conceeded more than twenty minutes due to lack of practise and neck pains. Even though the Italien KTM Oscar Polli had to do a u-turn to drop off a GPS kit at a CP due to a broken mounting, he still managed to arrive in first place in front of the Polish Czachor (KTM) and the Franco-Uraguayan Laurent Lazard (KTM).Another tight pack were the quads, 13th Christophe Declerk came in front of Berard Barra’s Yamaha and Angelo Montico’s Honda.

Isidre Esteve (S/KTM Gauloises):
I saw today that I’m not quite back on form after my accident 2yrs ago. But I feel that everyday will be a progression in the right direction. The bike was perfect but in those conditions I didn’t want to take too many risks.

David Casteu (Fra/KTM Gauloises):
Starting and finishing in these conditions was great. I noticed that my navigation has greatly improved, this I owe to my friend Carlo De Gavardo. We have similar styles and I learnt a lot from him. There was a way point at 40km that was tricky but I tried not to waste too much time.

Franck Olmi (Fra/KTM 660):
At every jump the bike drifted 2m in the wind. I was caught by Ullevalseter and Isidre and noticed the difference in our pace. Still getting aquainted with this bike I noticed today my braking distances...

Results
1 2 CASTEU David (F) KTM
2 3 ESTEVE PUJOL Isidre (E) KTM
3 5 ULLEVALSETER Pal anders (N) KTM
4 9 OLMI Franck (F) KTM
5 6 POLLI Oscar (I) KTM
6 7 CZACHOR Jacek (PL)
7 10 PORTAL Cyril (F) KTM
8 11 LAZARD Laurent (ROU) KTM
9 22 TIXADOR Gilles (F) KTM
10 43 VAYSSIE Michel (F) YAMAHA
11 51 ARREDONDO Francisco (GCA) KTM
12 100 DECLERCK Christophe (F) YAMAHA
13 44 SANNA COCCO Maurizio (I) KTM
14 17 MONTEAUD Fabrice (F) HONDA
15 101 BARRA Bernard (F) YAMAHA
16 103 MONTICO Angelo (I) HONDA
17 14 RENAUD Jerome (F) KTM
18 12 KRONSEDER Norman (D) KTM
19 21 PRUNIER Philippe (F) YAMAHA
20 49 BOUVRETTE Eric (CDN) HONDA

Photo courtesy of G Soldano

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