Robby filing a complaint against Peterhansel

On the video on the main page top center RG is being interviewd and he said he was filing a protest against Peterhansel for running over the motorcyclist is the river. Its gonna be cool to see what happens with that since it was clear on video for all to see.

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Permalink Reply by EWF on January 15, 2012 at 4:08pm

"Plus, knowing Stéphane's character and his understanding of sportsmanship he would never ever intentionally risk the safety of another competitor."

... except this time of course, where he intentionally risked the safety of another competitor. He didn't have the decency the cut the motorcyclist a break. If the ASO is such a fair and standup organization, then Peterhansel should have gotten out of his car to help the guy and then asked the ASO afterward for an adjustment equivalent to the time he would have been inconvenienced by being a decent human being.

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Permalink Reply by CLASS 11 on January 15, 2012 at 1:57pm

great job everyone!!!! i am a fan of robby since hi start racing in baja, this is just a thought invite the minis to race the baja 1000 this year it go's down to la paz or cabo, RG race in his backyard, now race in RG'S backyard

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Permalink Reply by Gary on January 15, 2012 at 2:20pm

Lucky the Rider never drowned under the bike in the fast flowing current :
However
Miss Peterhansel went too the biker after the stage and went to the ASO and organised the Riders Timer Back - Then the rider that help him said but I helped him - He went to ASO and organised his time back for that stage as well - Seems like Bribery and Corruption are part and parcel of that teams arsenal ! How does that work ? Miss Peterhansels influence on the ASO sounds too much like incest !

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Permalink Reply by Karen on January 15, 2012 at 2:30pm

If I were Robby I wouldn't waste my time on this-focus all that energy on revenge by winning Dakar 2013! Nothing good will come of a complaint anyway and will dilute the focus on Robby and team's accomplishments. Just a thought...

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Permalink Reply by Kirk G on January 15, 2012 at 2:53pm

If robby did the same thing, he would have been expelled

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Permalink Reply by Gary on January 15, 2012 at 3:02pm

I have just found this internet blog by italian journalist Elisabetta Caracciolo (shame I didn't find it earlier): http://quellidellafrica.myblog.it

It is all written in italian, and I did find some interesting insights about the Peterhansel/Ciotti incident, told from Ciotti himself. As the blogger says Ciotti is a nice guy that from day one is on the funny side making jokes of everyone and everything and making up excuses to withdraw. Reality is that he went on racing with his Rieju getting better positions leg after leg. Anyway, here's what Ciotti said:

"..."I was doing my best - says Filippo (Ciotti) - to push the bike out of the river and a spanish guy was helping me out. I was just two metres away from the land when Stephane came hitting my leg and I had just the time to jump to get away from his rear wheel. Obviously I did let my bike go and it drowned into the river" ..... "I didn't get hurt, I was feeling ok - he goes on joking - so unfortunately I had no excuse to withdraw from the race. Then the bike didn't want to start so I thought that it was a perfect excuse. Now I can finally withdraw. But here comes Franco Picco saying: "that's not a problem. Now do this, open that, clean there, then put this aside, put that there and the bike will start again. Is that all clear?" while I was thinking "Thanks Franco, don't worry, go on with your race, do not mind about me". Picco instead wanted to fix everything so I had to get at the bivouac. ()

At that point his first will was to get Peterhansel but he found him already at his tent begging pardon for what he did. "Please excuse me, I haven't seen you, from that car we do not have good visibility, I never did hit a biker, please excuse me, I swear it never happened before....ecc ecc".

..... The frenchman then declared: "I have seen Filippo (Ciotti) in the river and at first I did stop waiting for him to get out. Then I saw he was two metres from the edge and was going to get out so I moved, but at that point the guy who was helping him fell on the slippery surface and Filippo found himself alone pushing the bike out from the water on a steep edge. That is why that manouvre took him more time than I expected and I eventually did hit him".

On a following report another bit is added to the story:

"After Stephane and Filippo cleared the question at the tent, Peterhansel offered himself to get to the race direction to ask a time refund for Ciotti declaring that was his fault. Peterhansel then met Franco Picco at the bivouac and reassured him that the delay accumulated by Ciotti would be canceled. At that point Picco answered "well, if I knew I would also ask refund for the time I have spent fixing Filippo's bike..." Peter answered "You're right" and got back at the race direction to take care of it."

End of the story: Ciotti had 33 mins back and Picco 11 mins.

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Permalink Reply by EWF on January 15, 2012 at 4:12pm

Wow. The video evidence shows Peterhansel to be quite a good fibber.

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Permalink Reply by Bob on January 15, 2012 at 8:12pm

As much as I'm a Robby fan, I suspect the bulk of this story could be true. However, to tell they guy he simply could not see him (after apparently seeing him just fine before entering the crossing) when during the approach the guy was right in front of him sounds questionable to me. It's not like Perter was running at speed, and blinded by flying spray. And of course, he did not halt to make sure that the other man was OK.

But at least in this interview Cotti does not sound angry or vengefull, so I suspect that's worth paying attention to as well.

It's clear that the other fellow lost time as a result of the Mini's actions, as the organizers seemed to confirm by subtracting minutes from the biker's time. But why these minutes should come from the generosity of ASO rather than the person who caused them to be lost seems like a strange way of distributing things.

As to the letter from Mini, as with any big organization, being wrong is simply not a part of their job description, but I suspect they understand that every letter received, and every time that video gets played means one less car they are likely to sell at the showroom.

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Permalink Reply by Bonzai on January 15, 2012 at 10:05pm

In 2007, RG had 15min of penalties for bumping an another car. Why they don't put the same penalties for PH? Really, i think there are rules for PH and another for the other racers.

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Permalink Reply by Jeffwith2F's&1eye on January 15, 2012 at 8:59pm

HERE IS MY RESPONSE, I RECEIVED FROM THOSE PEOPLE OVER AT MINI MOTORSPORTS
Hi,
thanks for your request.

The incident has been thoroughly reviewed by the ASO after Stéphane Peterhansel contacted them. The ASO officials heard both Stéphane's and the biker's incident descriptions, and Stéphane apologized to the biker. The ASO then substracted a time of 33 minutes off the biker's overall time which all parties accepted. The ASO ticket has now been closed.
Plus, knowing Stéphane's character and his understanding of sportsmanship he would never ever intentionally risk the safety of another competitor.
Thanks for your understanding,
Chris

Chris Brandt
MINI Motorsport Web Team

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Permalink Reply by gtx on January 17, 2012 at 2:30am

89,000 Mini Coopers recalled for fire risk
The problem, in all the recalls, is that a computer circuit board controlling a turbocharger cooling system can fail. The result: a smoldering water pump and, in some cases, a fire in the engine compartment

http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/16/autos/mini_cooper_recall/?source=cn...