INTERVIEW / STE'PHANE PETERHANSEL

DESERT KING

Mitsubishi cross-country rally driver Ste'phane Peterhansel won the Dakar a record nine times. He talks to 'Motoring'

Why did you switch from motorbike to car?

I made an aim to beat the previous bike wins in Dakar which was five before switching to car. So, after I set the record of six, I changed to car. The reason is that on the motorbike it's very dangerous. You're alone all the time and when you crash you can hurt yourself badly. A car is safer and with a navigator on your side, it's more enjoyable.

Is there anything more challenging than the Dakar Rally?

The Dakar is a very tough race and you cannot win it by chance - you have to survive it first. It's very long and anything can happen - you can be leading one day and you make a mistake and it's all over. I don't think there's anything tougher than the Dakar.

How can somebody get into cross-country rallying?

In France, you can start with off-road karting. You move up to national cross-country rallying then the world championship and Dakar.

F1 drivers are often ex-karters - where do Dakar drivers come from?

I might be different as I first did the Dakar on motorbike. Others are rally drivers like former world champion Carlos Sainz. He has very good skills but in Dakar you don't need to be fast all the time. That's why he hasn't finished the Dakar in two years. You need to develop tactics so you can stay in the game and in a position to win.

What makes a good Dakar navigator?

He doesn't need to have rally co-driving experience but needs to be very organised and be able to read maps.

In the Dakar, every car gets the same roadbook from the organisers and you read directions from the GPS.

Can rally cars be greener for the environment?

I know that Mitsubishi is already into developing cleaner engines that would be more environmentally friendly.

But as a perspective, the number of rally cars today is a tiny, tiny proportion compared to the car population of the world.

What do you think of cross-country rallying in Thailand?

It's different to rallying in the desert for sure as the forest tracks in Thailand are very narrow and that would be hard for overtaking - you'd need the Sentinel system (a real-time GPS tracker and car-to-car communication).

Can Mana Pornsiricherd be a future Dakar winner?

Yes, he's got a good chance as he started young. He will need to gain more experience. It will be good if somebody gives him more chance to do more cross-country rallies because one African event a year isn't enough.

How do you see yourself when you're 60?

I would probably retire on a peaceful island somewhere like Corsica (France) and go fishing everyday.

Bangkok Post

Last Updated : Sunday April 08, 2007