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Today, having left Libya, the competitors headed back towards Tunisia for the seventh stage, between Sinawin and El Borma. Over the 314 km special stage, the final sprint, two stages before the end, is now well underway. Christian Lavieille and François Borsotto set the third-fastest time of the day, strengthening their fourth place overall.

The special stage between Dehibat and El Borma was generally very fast , and favoured the buggies. Dominique Housieaux, with the Schlesser buggy, set the best time, ahead of Eric Vigouroux and his Trophy Truck. Just three minutes behind the Chevrolet, Christian Lavieille set the third time.

The overwhelming heat spared neit her man nor machine. Pleased to have finished for the day, Christian Lavieille reached the bivouac, set in the middle of the El Borma oasis:

« We were really flying today... extremely motivated! After 40 km, we caught up with Errandonea's buggy, which started two minutes before us. And we noticed that he was getting lost. François showed me a track, 500 m to the right, but I must have tur ned too soon, and then we w ere also looking for the right path. We followed the heading to get back on the path, and saw Nobre's BMW, while he had left two minutes after us."

"We lost around three minutes trying to overtake him, and, a bit further, we made another small navigational mistake. We let Housieaux through at the pass, and we stopped to let our tyres down. We lost between five and seven minutes in total, between getting lost and our tyres, but nevertheless I really enjoyed myself. The fast part w as rather difficult, as it quickly becomes boring when you are flat out all the time... No problems with the car. »"

As far as the navigation was concerned, François Borsotto was kept more than busy, but he nevertheless enjoyed the day:

« Apart from the really fast part, the special stage was nice. There were some imprecise notes in the road-book which led to doubts, and made us lose time. It's a shame. »"

Tomorrow, those who are used to Tunisia will be on familiar ground, as the competitors will head for Ksar Ghilane after a 282 km special stage. After 40 km of liaison on a fast track, the start of the timed section will be almost off-road, with the only landmark the pipeline, which should be kept to the left, until a change of direction on a rocky off-road section. The first assistance point will be at this junction. After that, they will join a track that will take them to the Jenein Erg, which they will be the first to cross in rally conditions. After around 20 km, they will take a fast track with plenty of changes of directions to finally reach the Borj Bourguiba fort.

After that, the special stage will turn into a real ramble through the mountains, over rough and rocky ground, crossing fords that will take the competitors to Ksar Ghilane. There, they will have a final loop to the north, crossing more dunes, before reaching the bivouac in the palm grove.

© CAPSIS International