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2011.10.06

Steady Driving Pace Helps Mitsuhashi Stay in 2nd Place Overall


October 4, 2011 STAGE3 Tibniya to SAHL BARAKA
Rally des Pharaons 2011
LIASON: 22.58 kilometers Special Stage: 286.64 kilometers Total drive distance: 310.64 kilometers

Today’s total drive distance is said to be 310 kilometers which is the shortest stage distance in this rally. The course which runs through the white desert national park has many place with strange rock formations and unlike yesterday has finally become a course with a more “pharaoh-like” view. However the road surface as usual has many sharp and craggy rocks so the driver can never relax.
Mitsuhashi comments, “Except for a slight course error right after the race started, we had no trouble today and of course no flat tires. However today’s course was the high speed course so I didn’t think we could beat the fast G-FORCE car which has the highest speed. In fact they overtook me at an early stage in the race but later on they ran into some kind of trouble and had to stop so and I was able to get ahead of them again. The G-FORCE car from Russia is certainly fast but looks kind of roughly built so I suppose that they may have had some type of mechanical trouble. If possible I just want to maintain my race position which is difficult in this high-speed stage that doesn’t rely much on driver skill. I don’t know about tomorrow, but the day after that is Stage 5 which is said to be tough sand dunes so that may be my big chance. The more difficult it is the better. What, you say I like “getting stuck” on sand? Never thought about it but I just have to keep going.”
Tomorrow Mitsuhashi will leave today’s bivouac area which is Sahl Barak on the outskirts of the Farafra Oasis and head south, returning once again to the same course of bedrock and sand dunes.

October 5 Pharaons Rally 2011 Stage 3 Results
Overall standings Group standings Class standings Driver Number Competitor Team Vehicle Time Overall (accumulated) Time
1st Place 1st Place 1st Place 301 Schlesser Jean Louis Zhiltsov Konstantin Sonangol Schlesser 2:58:28
2nd Place 1st Place 1st Place 304 Mitsuhashi Jun Guehennec Alain Toyota Landcruiser 3:22:55
3rd Place 2nd Place 1st Place 302 Gadasin Boris Schemel Dan G-FORCE PROTO 3:28:15
4th Place 3rd Place 2nd Place 316 Casuneanu Costel Zani Maurilio Mitsubishi Pajero 3:29:50
5th Place 4th Place 3rd Place 311 Nesterchuck Vadym Lichtleuchter Laurent 5:45:37 3:47:19

Overall standings Stage 2
Overall standings Group standings Class standings Driver Number Competitor Team Vehicle Time Overall (accumulated) Time
1st Place 1st Place 1st Place 301 Schlesser Jean Louis Zhiltsov Konstantin Sonangol Schlesser 12:16:14
2nd Place 1st Place 1st Place 304 Mitsuhashi Jun Guehennec Alain Toyota Landcruiser 13:28:02
3rd Place 2nd Place 1st Place 302 Gadasin Boris Schemel Dan G-FORCE PROTO 13:44:23


In standby mode before start of the race, and wearing fire-proof mask


Arriving at finish in SS-3 in 2nd place overall


This entry was posted in 2011 PHARAONS.
  1. 三橋淳さま
    好調~手堅く総合2位クラストップ堅持して下さいね~総合1位が降りて来るかも^^

  2. 藤田 清 says:

    お疲れ!
    ええ感じになってきたねー。
    大事に行きましょ、大事に!

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2011.10.05

Finished in 2ND Place Overall! Running Smooth!


October 4, 2011
Rally des Pharaons 2011 STAGE1 Tibniya to Tibniya
LIASON: 4.83 kilometers in Special Stage: 473.63 kilometers Total drive distance: 478.46 kilometers

In the commercial race car class, adjusting the tire air pressure during the race is an unavoidable task which means about 10 minutes of lost time. Race cars in higher classes don’t have to do that so that lost time really hurts. Today a lot of rival cars made errors or hit other cars or got stuck in the sand dune area. If the sand dune course gets even more difficult from tomorrow onwards then I think we might have a chance at a higher overall position. Today the sand dunes were easy and we were able to drive along hard at about 80 kilometers per hour. There were certainly a lot of rock crags and the course tires you out with the hard sand surface but compared to the Dakar rally this is really easy.
We do have a chance at an overall win but Schlesser’s buggy and the Proto from Russia are both much faster than my car. If we keep getting sand dunes like we had in Dakar then maybe there’s a chance but for now just staying at the top in my class has priority.

October 4 Pharaons Rally 2011 Stage 2 Results
Overall standings Group standings Class standings Driver Number Competitor Team Vehicle Time Overall (accumulated) Time
1st Place 1st Place 1st Place 301 Schlesser Jean Louis Zhiltsov Konstantin Sonangol Schlesser 5:01:24 9:17:46
2nd Place 1st Place 1st Place 304 Mitsuhashi Jun Guehennec Alain Toyota Landcruiser 5:30:48 10:05:07
3rd Place 2nd Place 1st Place 302 Gadasin Boris Schemel Dan G-FORCE PROTO 5:32:28 10:16:08
4th Place 3rd Place 2nd Place NESTERCHUK VADYM LICHTLEUCHTER LAURENT 5:45:37 10:52:14
5th Place 4th Place 3rd Place 321 Vasiliev Vladimir Yevtyekhov Vitaliy G-FORCE PROTO 6:10:12 10:26:04


This entry was posted in 2011 PHARAONS.
  1. says:

    スタートしちゃうとイリトラックから目が離せないです。
    しんどい所ほど強いのでこれからが真骨頂ですね!
    信頼できるメカニックさん、アランと一緒に
    頑張って下さい。

  2. よりぞー says:

    タフなコースほど本領発揮!がんばってくださいねー!
    応援してます!

  3. 三橋淳さま
    教えて戴いた http://vulcain.iritrack.net/tdcom/eviewer/pharaons11/ で見てますが~総合2位キープなさっているようで何よりです…3日目の結果が楽しみです^^

  4. やったぁ!後ろが迫って来たのでハラハラしましたが無事に総合2位キープなさったようで何よりでした^^

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2011.10.04

Frequent trouble winning the top class.


Two Flat Tires, Course Errors A tough Pharaons Rally 2011 from the very first day!

Rally des Pharaons 2011 STAGE1 Cairo to Tibniya
LIASON: 89.96 kilometers in Special Stage: 356.01 kilometers Total drive distance: 470.35 kilometers

The first day of the Pharaons Rally is usually an excellent route with a great view sometimes called the “welcome stage” in some year. But this time it was different!
In the briefing on the previous day Mitsuhashi was told to expect a course with many sand dunes and sandy road surfaces so he set the tires to a really low air pressure. He intended to gain ground on sandy road surface by carefully driving the rock and crag strewn course while avoiding banks. However nearly the entire course turned out to be rocks and crags (steep rocks)! (and more!)
He comments, “I started out with the tires at extremely low air pressure so it was really tough driving over places with a lot of rocks and craggy points. This cost me 2 flat tires and lost a lot of time. Moreover a lot of places were gaps so my estimate of a mostly sand course was way off the mark. Another problem was that Alain, my navigator made a number of course errors so honestly speaking things in Stage 1 weren’t going very well. However after making a course error Alain quickly got us back on correct route which helped avoid a lot of trouble.”
However these kind of tough circumstances are fairly typical for Mitsuhashi as a top leader in his class and group, and since he is a defending champion he may be used to this type of trouble in Stage 1.
The first day of the Pharaons Rally turned out to be really tough Stage 1. Many competitors returned home by nightfall. Tomorrow they will start out from Tibniya which is the bivouac area and drive a loop route which takes them back to the same place. The rumors at the bivouac area are that the route will be even harder than today’s driving.

October 3 Pharaons Rally 2011 Stage 1 Results
Overall standings Group standings Class standings Driver Number Competitor Team Vehicle Time Overall Time
1st Place 1st Place 1st Place 321 Vasiliev Vladimir Yevtyekhov Vitaliy
G-FORCE PROTO 4:15:52 4:15:52
2nd Place 2nd Place 1st Place 301 Schlesser Jean Louis Zhiltsov Konstantin Sonangol Schlesser 4:16:22 4:16:22
3rd Place 3rd Place 1st Place 303 Zapletal Miroslav Ourednicek Tomas BMW X-3 4:26:41 4:26:41
4th Place 1st Place 1st Place Mitsuhashi Jun Guehennec Alain Toyota Landcruiser 4:34:19 4:34:19
5th Place 4th Place 2nd Place 302 Gadasin Boris Schemel Dan G-FORCE PROTO 4:43:00 4:43:00


Super busy before the race start due to commemorative photos and TV station interviews


Mitsuhashi checking his racing shoes just before the SS start


Mitsuhashi just before start of the race


This entry was posted in 2011 PHARAONS.
  1. ガッツ斉藤 says:

    初日からハードだったようで
    そして、走りは納得行かないと言いつつも
    順位はイイ感じだと素人目には見えます。
    しかし、このBlogでのレポートみているとなぜかこっちまで鼓動が激しくなり、
    呼吸が苦しくなります。
    2日目は長丁場・・トラブル無くベストな走りで、いっちゃってください。

  2. 三橋淳さま
    なんだか凄いことになってますが~2日目もご無事で…順位は心配してません^^

  3. 藤田 清 says:

    まだ勝ちに行かなくていいですよ。
    あと少し慎重に行っときましょう。

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2011.10.02

Pharaohs Rally starts finally

LE6D0243

Today we bring you a race report covering Jun Mitsuhashi, a top cross
country rally driver participating in the Rally des Pharaons 2011.

Sept. 30: Prep day: Cairo Egypt

After arriving at the suburban Cairo hotel serving as race headquarters,
Mitsuhashi spent the next 2 days relaxing including a few dips in the pool.
By the night of the 29th the other 14 team members also arrived and got
together there.

Sept 30: The race mechanics left that morning for Alexandria harbor to pick
up the race car and assistant’s cars. After arriving back at the hotel at
3PM in the afternoon the mechanics started tasks such aligning the driver’s
seat to match Mitsuhashi’s frame and bodily positions and finished prepping
the car.

Tonight they are scheduled to have dinner with the president of Toyota Auto
Body who just arrived in Egypt after flying in from Japan to provide backup
support.
Local media coverage of the event will start tomorrow morning with drivers
screening tests and vehicles inspections scheduled in the afternoon.


Mitsuhashi relaxing by the pool


After aligning the seat to match the driver’s body positions, the vehicle
prep was completed.


This entry was posted in 2011 PHARAONS.
  1. 大仕事の前の一時の安息…大切ですね^^

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2011.01.18

(日本語) ブエノスアイレスから三橋の動画


Sorry, this entry is only available in 日本語.


This entry was posted in 2011 DAKAR.

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