Photo: WTCC Media

Yvan Müller in Lisaboa-Dakar

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WTCC ace Yvan Müller lies in 11th position after the first two stages of the Lisboa-Dakar rally. Müller who is competing for the first time in the infamous desert raid, drives a 4×4 Proto Dessoude 05, powered by a 4-litre V6 Nissan engine and run by Team Dessoude with the technical cooperation of ORECA. Yvan’s co-driver is René Metge, three times a winner of the Paris-Dakar.

The first stage led the competitors from Lisbon to Portimão on Saturday, through 495 km.

Muller and Metge clocked the 11th fastest time, with a gap of 1:28.2 from the winning Volkswagen Touareg of Carlos Sousa and Andreas Schulz.

“The track was really narrow and sandy,” Muller commented. “Everything worked well, however in one corner I almost spun and hit a tree. It was a warning that I have fully understood.”

On the second stage – the 500 km stretch from Portimão to Malaga, in Spain – won by the Volkswagen Touareg of Carlos Sainz and Michel Perin, Muller was classified 11th again and his gap from the leader Sousa increased to 2:31.34.

The rally resumes on Monday with the first African stage: 649 km in Morocco, from Nador to Er Rachidia.