22 replies to this topic

[Zawed]

Did anyone else see the co-Driver of the race leaders car (A Japanese guy, I think) throw an almighty paddy when their car broke an axle trying to pass some slow Spanish driver on the 2nd last stage. Throwing his helmet really hard onto the ground and smashing it into his 4WD! He even ran into the path of the Spanish guy holding them up, to try and deal to him!!

Funny stuff, I could'nt believe the way he was carrying on!
:lol:

[diosh]

I saw that, it was crazy! At first i couldn't believe it when he left the track and went jungle to try and pass him on the outside, then it got even better!!

[david_martin]

For the record the co-driver who "spat the dummy" was Pascal Maimon, who is French - although with a performance like that you wonder whether he is a distant relative of James Hunt . His driver, Hiroshi Masuoka ,is Japanese. They were actually running second overall and were battling for second on the road at the time of the incident.

[The RedBaron]

wrong -Hiroshi Masuoka was leading the Rally overall. Schlesser & Servia did some ungamely pre-race tactics by arriving at the start line before Masouka, which meant they started before the race leader. (no overtaking at the start line)
Masouka was majorly pissed off and pursued the 2 Schlesser cars upfront by cutting across the terrain as opposed to following the 2 leading cars on the dirt track...his visibly would have been impaired by the dust/dirt raised by the leading cars.
By cutting across the terrain he hit a tree stump which damaged his rear tyre & hub severely...he lost about 50 minutes repairing it, hence also the lead after the 19th stage. Schlesser the stage winner later got penalised (one hour penalty) for his unsporting behaviour which meant Jutta Kleinschmidt (German female) inherited the lead going into the final stage. She became the 1st woman in history to ever win the Paris-Dakar rally..somewhat controversially though. If hadn't been for Schlesser's behaviour, Jutta's teammate Hiroshi Masuoka (both Mitsibushi) would have won the rally. That's why Hiroshi's co-driver through a mardy and rightly so!

[Indian Chief]

I saw it in the news and it was truly ASTONISHING. The codriver just went directly on the path of the Schlesser buggy!!! He is pretty lucky to be alive! Notice how the driver didn't even try to calm his co-driver down!:lol:

[Dudley]

Dumbass

[SchuMic]

Geeez! I missed that new. I wish I could see it, sounds great moment. Anyone knows where I can find a video of it on the net?

Thx!

SchuMic

[PAD]

The BBC News site has it:

http://news.bbc.co.u...y6_trott_vi.ram

[Lydmanden]

Originally posted by Zawed
He even ran into the path of the Spanish guy holding them up, to try and deal to him!!

What? They selling drugs as well?

[Dsilence]

LOL

[SchuMic]

Winners don't use drugs...He should have known that!

Thx PAD for the link.

SchuMic

[narhuit]

This is not meant to add controversy, but... here I go.

The day before, Jutta Kleinschmidt did block Jean-Louis Schlesser for several kilometers, to allow the other Mitsubishi driver -Hiroshi Masuoka- to strenghten his advance. AFAIK, Schlesser wanted to pay them back.
Well, we will not know the whole story, nor who was the real "bad-guy" anyway, will we?

[vroom-vroom]

From what I read, the two Schlesser buggies *illegally* started the race 1-2 in front of Masuoka, then Servia deliberetaly blocked Masuoka, allowing Schlesser to disappear in the distance. Servia was not supposed to be there (he didn't care less about being DQ as long as it helped JLS). Note that at that point, Masuoka was the overall leader by only a few minutes, and Schlesser was second, gaining minutes fast thanks to this illegal tactic. This is quite different from making it difficult for someone to overtake to favor a teammate. Apparently, Schlesser has a horrible reputation in offroad rally circles...To make this ON-TOPIC, does anyone remember a lapped, one-off Williams driver knocking Senna off the the lead of an Italian GP on the last lap?

[Mellon]

According to the rules Schlesser's jumpstart was worth a 6 min penalty (12 min for Servia), which he also received. He was counting on winning it and Masuoka's lead back on the stage. He could not be penalized for Servia's blocking but received a 60 min penalty for unsportsmanlike behavior, rightfully so IMHO.

It was a shame that Masuoka destroyed his rear wheel when overtaking Servia, handing the win to Kleinschmidt. She was as undeserving as Schlesser of the wictory after blocking him for more than 100km on a previous stage. I was hoping that she would hand the victory to Masuoka, who is the moral winner, on the last stage, but she proved what I already knew: that she is not a true sports(wo)man.

[MrAerodynamicist]

http://news6.thdo.bb...000/1130518.stm

So many motorsport tantrums

[Todd]

Mellon,

Masouoka was no more deserving than Jutta Kleinshmidt. It was for him that she employed her diry tactics in the first place. The organizers should have handed out penalties or banned the entire Mitsubishi team on that day. It was ridiculous that they let Mitsubishi drivers use team blocking tactics but not Schlesser. What a fixed piece of **** race. Obviously, the organizers favored the factory team.

[vroom-vroom]

Todd, Kleinshmidt's tactics were no different that those commonly seen in F1. She was legally on the road ahead of Schlesser and made it difficult for him to pass, period. No big deal. In the case of the Renault factory-backed Schlesser team, the *real* factory entry in this Paris-Dakar edition, there was a conscious breaking of the rules, and a gamble on the penalty behing offset by the resulting gain. It's equivalent to a F1 team sarting illegally 1-2 on the grid after qualifying lower down the field, then blocking the opposition until the leader builds up a sufficient lead to offset a stop-and-go penalty (OK, I know; he would get black-flagged).

[narhuit]

Vroom-vroom - Kleinsmidt's tactics are totally different in this kind of rally from F1. These rallies are not about outbraking oponents into corner entries. They are endurance runs, whereas F1 is about sprint runs.
In F1, overtaking is an issue, and an art, which requires skill. In rally, you overtake by adding lower times (and I do not speak for WRC only: this applies for "rally-raid" too; there should be no such things as wheel-banging there).

[vroom-vroom]

Yes, on these dusty tracks, it is difficult, sometimes almost impossible to overtake a competitor in front of you if the latter doesn't 'let you through.' Kleinshmidt didn't let Schlesser through, OK, but it was within the rules. Live with it, Jean-Louis. OTOH, Schlesser and Servia, deliberately broke the rules by starting in front of Masuoka - hoping that the penalty they would receive would be offset by the gain they would get on the road. That, IMO, is outrageous, and the 1-hour penalty Schlessser got as a result is entirely justified. In fact, I have the feeling we might not see much more of that cowboy in the future. This was not the first and only mischief he committed in this one edition of Paris-Dakar. Not a good Renault PR guy.

[Megatron]

Schlesser is a bit of a loose cannon isn't he. Remember when he wasn't looking where he was going and tripped over Senna in his one and only start in a Williams?

I remember Frank wanted Martin Brundle, then Keke Rosberg and Niki Lauda possibly coming out of retirement, then got Jean Louis. Not his first choice.

[Nasty McBastard]

"Todd, Kleinshmidt's tactics were no different that those commonly seen in F1"

yes, but even eddie irvine, after holding up someone for a 100k or whatever, and on numerous occasions be fed a little chrome horn wouldnt get out at the end and say

"nah mate...didnt even see em"

*l*

[Williams]

Wasn't that the only and only race in 1988 that a McLaren didn't win ? Damn, I bet Ron Dennis still haes nightmares about this Schlesser fellow.

[Nasty McBastard]

as for monza 88...was the same as MS/DC at spa... except senna could see JLS

senna had a miles lead and could of easily sat behind the guy, but went for the pass and ferrari won...