Although the two Fiat PanDAKARs dropped out of the Dakar Rally 2007 early last week, Italian interest in the North African desert adventure is still well represented, as in the truck category three Ivecos are busy pounding their way through Mauritania, all well placed on the overall leaderboard.

After a well-deserved official rest day yesterday for all the teams the remaining competitors on the Dakar Rally 2007 are today continuing through Mauritania, with a 589 km timed special stage (SS8) which is taking them from Atâr to Tichit. With a morning connection of 35 km and a final connection into Tichit later on of 2 km, today's total distance will be 626 km. Stage 8 in fact has several very unique facets. The route of the test is quite well-marked, with stony tracks at the beginning of the course; and then the enthusiasts will be entitled to a dose of sand during the middle of their day. Patience will be the drivers’ best ally for finding the oasis: the final track has no hidden traps, but constant awareness must always be maintained. The panorama that awaits the competitors though is more than worth the effort.

The three Iveco trucks are all very well placed in the rally after a week of action. The #506 Motorsport Italia Iveco Trakker, driven by the Italian trio Giacomo Vismara, Mario Cambiaghi and Sergio Chionni, is the best placed on the overall leaderboard; they started today in an excellent 11th place overall in the truck category, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 10 seconds behind the class leading #501 MAN entry. After all the rigours of the event, just 66 trucks remain in the running. The Motorsport Italia team has vast experience on the Dakar Rally; in fact last year they ran the Iveco trucks which were handled by crews led by Miki Biasion (who this year switched to the Fiat PanDAKAR) and another former rally star, Markku Alén. Setting the team up perfectly for the rigours of the Dakar challenge, and clearly demonstrating their winning credentials, Vismara led the team to a stunning truck category victory on last year's Raid Championship-counting Rally of the Pharaohs.
 

The #506 Motorsport Italia Iveco truck has been remorselessly working its way up the leaderboard after making a steady start. This culminated in an impressive 8th fastest time on the last stage to be contested, SS7 on Friday. This long stage took the teams from Zouérat to Atâr, with a 542 km timed section over some very rough tracks, off-road sections, and the obligatory sand dunes; and after six hard days of racing across North Africa, fatigue was also a major factor as the crews eagerly approached yesterday's rest day. The #506 entry had finished the opening stage in Portugal eight days ago in 16th place overall. The trucks didn't take part in SS2, but the next stage - the first in Africa - saw Vismara, Cambiaghi and Chionni move up to 12th place. They slipped back to 16th on leg 4, before climbing up to 13th after leg 5, then 14th after leg 6, and finally up to 11th place after Friday's seventh leg, the team knocking on the door of the top ten overall, despite the engine capacity disadvantage that they give away to the leading trucks.

The second Iveco truck on the leaderboard, the #526 Eurocargo is being driven by rapid desert lady racer Luisa Trucco, who is joined in the cockpit by the Pattono brothers, Corrado and Germano. This morning they left Atâr in 27th place in the truck category (12:09.11 behind the class leader) having also steadily climbed up the leaderboard. They finished leg 1 in 54th place overall, before moving up the classification to 48th after leg 3, then 37th at the end of leg 4, slipping a place the next day (to 38th), before climbing to 33th on Thursday, and then 27th on Friday after setting the 24th fastest time through the 524 km stage. The third Iveco is another experienced combination, Spaniards Roque and Navarro, joined by Italian pilot Calzi. They are 35th overall, 14:16.10 behind the leader.

After completing today's long leg 8, the teams will leave Tichit tomorrow morning and head for Néma, a day which will see the teams undertaking the 494 timed kilometres that make up stage 9. This is a big chunk of desert that may seen hard to swallow. Landmarks will be extremely few and far between and so the finest navigators in the field will be having their say. For the less inspired, Plan B involves picking the right tyre-tracks to follow. Reaching Néma in daylight is a victory in itself, for after nightfall, everything seems to take twice as long. No longer the same colours or materials, no longer the same demands. On leaving the Sahara and its strings of dunes, there will be a very noticeable increase in the average speed. In the savannah now, teams can start putting away the shovels and waffle-boards.