Tunisia: Lavieille first leader

Short but selective, this first special of 180 km was, in everyone's opinion, very difficult to navigate. “ At the beginning the course was very narrow, on a small mountainous track lined with prickly pears, these large cacti. There were also many small paths between the fields, and you had to be careful with the many changes of direction. », Estimated Andreas Schulz, Novitskiy’s teammate.

The Russian, who opened the road, was therefore a little handicapped, and he was quickly caught by Christian Lavieille and Eric Vigouroux. The three men rode together for a long time, Vigouroux even took the lead of this small peloton halfway through, before suffering a puncture 6 km from the finish. “ We had deflated in a small sandy wadi, and I did not see a large stone outcropping », explained the Trophy Truck driver who ultimately only achieved the fourth fastest time.

It was therefore Christian Lavieille who set the best time, to the great pleasure of the Dessoude team, ahead of Novitskiy. “This special was a little stressful, and above all we had to stay calm,” explained the great Christian. The third time was achieved by a very serene Jean-Louis Schlesser: “well done to my Russian teammate, who was officiating for the first time alongside me. He speaks French very well, but it was not easy for him,” said the veteran, co-driven by Konstantin Zhilstov.

Between the gang of “four”, the fight is well underway. Finally, a good performance from the Italian Traglio, fifth with his Nissan Pathfinder, who was ahead of the buggies of Thomasse, Lethier and Chabot.