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The Pescarolo team with space-tech onboard 
Henri Pescarolo with co-driver Serge de Liedekerke finished 28th in this year's '2003 Dakar Rally'. “The car had good potential. Too bad we did not make it in the first 10 – my objective before the start,” Pescarolo said after the race. When car 225, a modified Nissan Terrano, worked well, it was just behind the leaders of the rally. However, “several technical difficulties made us lose too much time,” Pescarolo noted.
“It was a beautiful race. Now we have to prepare for the future,” he added.
A special thermal screen using technology developed for the European launch vehicle Ariane provided highly advanced protection and thermal insulation on the Pescarolo car. Drivers' helmets with innovative cooling system An Italian company, Grado Zero Espace from Sovigliana, near Florence, provided a cooling system for the drivers’ helmets incorporating several ESA space technologies. Cooling drinks for the drivers Advanced numerical simulation techniques developed by ESA for satellite mission calculations made it possible for ThermaGen, a French company, to calculate precisely the cooling behaviour of terracotta clay to design a self-cooling container. The Pescarolo team tried out these innovative containers during the rally.
On the day of rest, 13 January, the Pescarolo team, car no. 225, had a special treat in Siwa, Egypt: Extraterrestrial gastronomy The setting was simple, a bivouac in the desert, but the food was ‘real’ space food, the same as astronauts enjoy on board the International Space Station. The menu included ‘squid, duck confit with capers, pasta and rice cake with caramel sauce’. Very delicious, was Henri Pescarolo’s comment.
The setting of stage 14 is a forgotten track that was used by the camel caravans to go to Sudan. The stage’s 702 km brings the competitors through mountains and finishes with a very steep descent. The rally then goes back into time at the archeological site of Karnak, the valley of Kings, the valley of Queens and quite a number of temples including that of Ramses II and the Pharaoh Queen Hatchepsout, the only woman to have governed ancient Egypt.
The day went well for the Pescarolo team. By ending on a 16th position, he advanced in the overall qualification to no. 21.
Stage 13 is really a place where no-one wants to go. Initially the route goes though the ‘cathedral dunes, which are over 100 m high and with each time steep descents. The second part of the stage goes across the ‘white desert’ starting from the Farafra oasis, where the wind also plays an important role.
Pescarolo finished the stage in position no. 16, and thereby maintaining his overall position as no. 22.
Note for editors: The 'space menu' served at Siwa, Egypt included: Calmars à l'américaine: Coulis de langoustines, tomates concassées, vin blanc, Porto, Cognac Confit de canard aux câpres: confit, fond de veau, fond de volaille, câpres Pâtes au fromage: coquillettes, rapé, bechamel avec moitié lait, moitié bouillon de volaille
Riz au caramel: lait, vanille, sucre, riz Piémontais, caramel non décuit
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