2008 FIA INTERNATIONAL CUP FOR CROSS COUNTRY BAJAS (ROUND 3/6) BAJA ESPANA ARAGON (JULY 17-20, 2008) Saturday July 19, 2008 Leg 2 (interim report after SS3)ALPHAND AND MASUOKA FIGHT TO JOIN MITSUBISHI TEAM-MATE ROMA ON PODIUM Luc Alphand/Gilles Picard (France) posted the second fastest time onSaturday morning's opening stage (SS3) which took crews to the north of hostcity Zaragoza. The Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution MPR13 driver hasclosed to within less than a minute of the provisional top-three. NaniRoma/Lucas Cruz (Spain) are still second after claiming the fourth quickesttime, while Hiroshi Masuoka/Pascal Maimon (Japan/France) were fifth in thediesel-powered MPR14.Conditions for the 133.12km run from Villamayor to Huesca were once againdry, bright and sunny, with temperatures already up to 25°C despite theearly hour. The stage itself was globally faster than Friday's terrain, buta good two-thirds were still reasonably twisty through the region'slower-lying fields.All the drivers reported suffering from the hanging dust, however. This wasmade worse when heading into the sun, and Luc Alphand - who is feeling muchbetter today - described the sensation as "like driving in fog". After their early start, crews had a chance to work on their machines duringthe mid-morning service break in Zaragoza before tackling the longest stageof the rally. However, the organisers have chosen to shorten SS4(Longares-Alcaniz-Belchite) from the originally planned 238.16km to211.63km. The day ends with the first of the weekend's two visits to thePrincipe Felipe/Colin McRae memorial show stage (SS5, 1.00km), named inmemory of the former World Rally Champion.Nani Roma (Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution MPR13 N°4):Position on SS3: 4thOverall position after SS3: 2nd"It was quite tough this morning. The combination of hanging dust and thelow morning sun made visibility very difficult and we knew straight awaythat we were likely to lose time. But that's the way it is. It's up to usnow to profit from this afternoon's long stage to keep the pressure onAl-Attiyah. It won't be easy because the terrain is much faster and moresuited to the diesel cars, but we can't allow him to think he can relax. Wehave no intention of giving up the fight"Luc Alphand (Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution MPR13 N°3) Position on SS3:2nd Overall position after SS3: 4th "I haven't totally recovered but I feelmuch better today. I've managed to eat, I slept well, and that makes a hugedifference! Our objective today is to try to make it back into the top-threeafter the disappointment of losing ground so close to the end of yesterday'sfinal stage. We managed to claw back a little time this morning but today'sroads are much faster and there was lots of hanging dust, especially in thevalleys for the first 25km or so. It was almost like driving in fog inplaces, especially with the low sun. There's a breeze now, so hopefully wewill get a clearer run this afternoon, although overtaking could bedifficult if we succeed in catching the car in front"Hiroshi Masuoka (Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution MPR14 N°10) Position onSS3: 5th Overall position after SS3: 5th "The engine felt great this morningand it was nice to feel all that power and torque, especially over the 40kmor so that were particularly fast with some nice long straights. The othertwo thirds of the stage were a little twistier, but dust was the big problemand that prevented us from making full use of the MPR14's potential."SS3 CLASSIFICATION1. Nasser Al-Attiyah (BMW X3 CC)- 1:30:27 (+**:**:**.*)2. Luc Alphand (MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO EVOLUTION)- 1:31:35 (+1:08)3. Filipe Campos (BMW X3 CC)- 1:31:44 (+1:17)4. Joan Roma (MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO EVOLUTION)- 1:32:10 (+1:43)5. Hiroshi Masuoka (MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO EVOLUTION)- 1:32:48 (+2:21)6. Leonid Novistsky (BMW X3 CC)- 1:35:36 (+5:09)7. Orlando Terranova (BMW X3 CC)- 1:36:07 (+5:40)8. Luis Climent (TOYOTA PROTO)- 1:39:58 (+9:31)9. Fernando Hernandez (MITSUBISHI MONTERO)- 1:42:29 (+12:02)10. Santiago Anglada (MITSUBISHI MONTERO)- 1:42:47 (+12:20)11. Bernardo Moniz (BMW X3 CC)- 1:42:54 (+12:27)12. Tonnie Van Deijne (MITSUBISHI L200)- 1:42:59 (+12:32)13. Jose Hernandez (MITSUBISHI MONTERO)- 1:43:24 (+12:57)14. Kenjiro Shinozuka (NISSAN PATHFINDER)- 1:43:36 (+13:09)15. Boris Gadasin (NISSAN OVERDRIVE)- 1:44:27 (+14:00)16. Rui Sousa (BMW X5)- 1:45:41 (+15:14)17. Ilya Kutnetsov (MITSUBISHI PAJERO)- 1:46:05 (+15:38)18. Francesc Termens (MITSUBISHI MONTERO)- 1:46:23 (+15:56)19. Gerard Benielli (BAT BUGGY)- 1:46:33 (+16:06)20. Amadeus Matzker (LAND ROVER DEFENDER)- 1:46:38 (+16:11)OVERALL CLASSIFICATION AFTER SS31. Nasser Al-Attiyah (BMW X3 CC)- 5:30:07 (+**:**:**.*)2. Joan Roma (MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO EVOLUTION)- 5:36:36 (+6:29)3. Filipe Campos (BMW X3 CC)- 5:41:39 (+11:32)4. Luc Alphand (MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO EVOLUTION)- 5:42:32 (+12:25)5. Hiroshi Masuoka (MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO EVOLUTION)- 5:50:47 (+20:40)6. Leonid Novistsky (BMW X3 CC)- 6:03:04 (+32:57)7. Luis Climent (TOYOTA PROTO)- 6:05:44 (+35:37)8. Tonnie Van Deijne (MITSUBISHI L200)- 6:11:28 (+41:21)9. Boris Gadasin (NISSAN OVERDRIVE)- 6:13:22 (+43:15)10. Fernando Hernandez (MITSUBISHI MONTERO)- 6:13:28 (+43:21)11. Bernardo Moniz (BMW X3 CC)- 6:14:35 (+44:28)12. Kenjiro Shinozuka (NISSAN PATHFINDER)- 6:15:07 (+45:00)13. Jose Hernandez (MITSUBISHI MONTERO)- 6:15:09 (+45:02)14. Maurizio Traglio (NISSAN TERRANO)- 6:15:27 (+45:20)15. Santiago Anglada (MITSUBISHI MONTERO)- 6:23:40 (+53:33)16. Rui Sousa (BMW X5)- 6:24:22 (+54:15)17. Giovanni Manfrinato (TOYOTA HDJ100)- 6:26:18 (+56:11)18. Ilya Kutnetsov (MITSUBISHI PAJERO)- 6:26:37 (+56:30)19. Janis Azis (OSCAR O3)- 6:28:19 (+58:12)20. Orlando Terranova (BMW X3 CC)- 6:31:15 (+1:01:08)