The Mitsubishi Motors Repsol ATS Studios Team held first and second positions after the shortened second selective section of the Optic 2000 Rally of Tunisia, on Tuesday.
Frenchman Luc Alphand and co-driver Gilles Picard set the overall fastest time and now hold a 1m 47s outright lead over their Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution team mates Japan's Hiroshi Masuoka and French co-driver Pascal Maimon
Alphand began the stage third on the road and finished the varied section in the dust of Frenchman Bruno Saby and Masuoka. The former World Downhill skiier beat the Volkswagen driver by 2m 49s today and leads his nearest non-Mitsubishi by 3m 32s. Masuoka passed Saby on two occasions, only to lose his way and his place on the road.
"We set a good pace today and there was no dust," said Alphand. "Just before the start it was so slippery. We were in second gear, around 30 km/h, sliding around when braking. It was pure mud and very dangerous. I saw Hiroshi in the middle of the stage and we set a good pace, but we lost about 10 seconds with a small navigation mistake. The car is perfect and I really enjoyed today's stage."
"The beginning of the stage was very muddy and there were some big holes on the inside of the corners," said Masuoka. "It was slippery and dangerous. I was careful, but then the tracks improved and we were okay and able to push. Twice I passed Bruno and then we lost our way and dropped behind again. The weather was very changeable. It was not easy today."
Adverse weather conditions had affected the mid-Tunisia region when the rally caravan docked in Tunis on Monday afternoon and intermittent rain showers persisted throughout the night at the Le Kef bivouac.
This caused the opening section of the stage to Tamerza to be shortened by 87 kms for the car category, when muddy conditions prevailed on the hilly early sections. Although the bike riders tackled the full stage, the section was later shortened on safety grounds.
"Ten years ago on this rally you could almost be guaranteed warm, sunny conditions in this part of Tunisia and now we have rain," said a disbelieving MMSP's Team Director Dominique Serieys.
