Giniel, you have just won a very nice 4th place in this Dakar 2005. How do you feel?
I feel rather good about it. This is a reward for the work of these last few months. We made a lot of progress with the vehicle. Unfortunately we lost a little time in the dunes but we’re going to get back to work to make still more progress in crossing, because we are slightly behind in this area. But the Pickup was very good in the other areas. Very reliable as well: we didn’t experience any major technical concerns. I am very satisfied with this Dakar 2005.

Thanks to you, Nissan is signing its best result in the Dakar. This must make you especially proud, as a faithful supporter of the Nissan family?
Oh, yes, of course! I am also very proud of my two previous results here in the Dakar, where I have already ranked in the Top 10 two times. We are very happy to have succeeded in achieving this result, due to a great extent to the reliability of the Pickup, which is an encouraging sign for the future.

What created your success this year?
The competition was severe this year, there were many manufacturers involved, with extensive resources. We concentrated on our race without worrying too much about the rhythm adopted by the others. The essential goal for us was for the Pickup to be in good condition at the finish of each special, and in order to achieve that it’s necessary not to make too many mistakes. As I said before, there are little improvements to be made to the Pickup, but what we succeeded in doing this year, with a new vehicle and a young team, is very encouraging.

Jean-Marie Lurquin (Giniel de Villiers’ co-driver)
“We achieved excellent performances, especially at the end of the course. Unfortunately we had some difficulties in the crossing stages. There is progress to be made on the vehicle in this area. Otherwise, on the more smooth moving tracks, Giniel drove superbly well, I don’t believe that I made navigation errors and the Pickup showed its potential. The whole team worked well. The Pickup is new and we had some worries about its reliability, but we were quickly reassured. We weren’t very nice to the vehicle every day, but there it is, in excellent condition. If anyone had told me that we would finish so close to the podium confronted with such competition, I wouldn’t have believed it. I think that the N-05 Pickup is the most reliable of them all. And certainly not the least high-performance.”