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UpdatesNew images04.May.2009, 11:50:00 I just received these pictures from Eric Vigouroux showing just how wet and miserable the first day of the rally turned out to be. I am not quite sure whether hanging trousers on the assistance truck was to wash them or let them dry. Considering the weather, they may have had a long wait. Anyway, for the sake of completeness I add the pictures now to give you a flavour of the glamour that is the Tunisia rally. Everyone thinks Tunisia is sunshine and tequila but as these pictures show, the grass isnt always greener in someone else's field. 
Toujours Tozeur02.May.2009, 20:18:00 Yesterdays cancellation of the stage after the accident involving Novitskiy left just todays stage to conclude what has been a roller coaster ride of a rally. First off, everyone was relieved to hear the accident involving Novitskiy was not as severe as first reported. A high speed roll ended their rally but they will be back and everyone wishes them a speedy recovery. Todays stage was two laps of Tozeur, some 134 km. The terrain, although relatively smooth, contained some tough camel grass to catch out the unwary. The rough stuff helped the trophy truck a little since some of the cars have a higher top speed so having to slow for the camel grass gave Eric a chance to catch the fast cars. Third place in the stage, narrowly missing second place by just 40 seconds, Eric and Alex were pleased with their performance today. Occupying even the third step of the podium is a momentous occasion for the hard charging team. Eric said a few word about the rally now it has reached the end. “In the final assessment, we are very positive on several points. In spite of our engineering problems, initially, we are at the conclusion and we finish in seventh place, in spite of our whole small budget. In winning a stage outright we gave a very important symbol confirming that we deserve our place among the `best teams' even if the ground did not favor us. We cannot forget that our car is a two wheel drive, category where we were constantly equal with the others. Lastly, we are proud not to have had any punctures though out the race, due to our excellent tires.” No one would dispute that Eric, one of the FIA priority ranked drivers, deserves to be counted among the best rally raid drivers in the world. his low budget, private team have regularly showed they can mix it with the manufacturing giants of the rally raid world. “During this rally, we learned many things at the technical level. It was a huge test session and it has given us interesting lines of development. We hope to make this lesson profitable for the future, in particular for our new car project. With a few more resources at our disposal, we could carry out more tests; which is clearly what we missed before this rally of Tunisia.” “To finish, I would like to thank to all of our partners in general for their loyalty, and in particular Ronn Bailey for his financial and friendly support, and Toyo Tires which provides us the best product existing on the market”, concluded Eric. So, the end of another incredibly exciting rally, the team, 7th place overall, return to France and the USA to tell their war stories and plot the next race. I shall be in my office in Germany wondering what to do about the time the days stage should end with no blog to write and feeling like I am missing the rally nearly as much as Eric. A modest celebration tonight having made the top ten in spite of some difficulties that could have led to an early bath. For those of you who don't speak French (like me), Toujours means "always". I titled this last entry to the blog, Toujours Tozeur, because Eric and Alex were always going to get to Tozeur. There were some close escapes but there was never any doubt that they would reach the end. We will be making a short DVD of the rally to use for publicity. TOYO TIRES will use it to promote their tires and Pro-System Racing will use it to help raise more sponsorship to develop the new car. If anyone else is interested in having a copy, drop us an email at info@toyotires.eu We will give you the web address to download the movie from for free as soon as it is ready. This might not quite be the last entry as we have more pictures and video to upload which will also be done as soon as we can so keep looking for the next couple of days as we add everything we have tot he page. 
Note to team, bring more alternators next time.30.Apr.2009, 17:51:00 Today, it was a case of what could have been for Pro-System Racing. Just 40 km into the race, the alternator light came on. Worrying since the car already suffered alternator problems back on the first half of the marathon stage 5. Things didn't improve. 2 km later, the Trophy Truck ground to a halt when the alternator let go. This is desperately bad news because both Eric and Alex know well from their earlier experience that the alternator is difficult to reach requiring much dismantling. The technical term for this, even in the workshop, is "A pig of a job" Bleeding knuckles and much swearing ensued for the next 30 minutes when the truck was back up and running. Back to business with the race and Eric was on a mission to prove just how good the package of driver, car and tires are. he fairly flew along the course passing all of the cars that had overtaken the stricken Trophy Truck while it was parked for repair. If there was a French equivalent to the visceral English phrase "gutted" then it would have been the ideal phrase for Eric's day. Instead, the more prosaic driver explained “It is really damage because the track was cut to measure for Trophy Truck. I regret having let pass a victory which we could gain with the regular one. We finish the special with thirty minutes of delay over best time, and we have `'mécaniqué' 'thirty minutes: I let to you judge… " You really don't like it when these ones slip away, but that as they say, is racing. Although disappointed not to finish the stage at the front, Eric enjoyed driving the Trophy Truck through the stage. Once the alternator was fixed, he drove like the car was on fire with everything coming together. He told the waiting press at the bivouac, "I comfort myself nevertheless because we took much pleasure in piloting, Trophy Truck flew on the sand and the bumps…” Well so much for the bad luck. The team also had a piece of outrageous good fortune. They say you make your own luck and in this case it was true. Yesterday, the team's fast assistance car, driven by the two American mechanics, Larry Foddrill and Dustin Wilkinson had been to Tripoli, a 600 km round trip from the bivouac. Their mission, to collect an express parcel sent from Phoenix, Arizona, three days before. No prizes for guessing what was in the parcel. Two new alternators, urgently ordered after their earlier problems. With navigation skills to rival Alex's, the `'américains' ', negotiated the back streets of the Libyan capital to find the Fedex representative and having collected their parcel, dashed back to the bivouac of Oueni. Without their heroic effort, Pro-System Racing would have ended their Tunisia campaign ignominiously in the Desert today. So when it comes down to it, theres a kind of balance. Todays bad luck was kind of evened out by yesterdays good luck. It could all have been at lot worse. Normal service is resumed tomorrow with Eric attacking from the start. Tomorrow's stage crosses the desert used to shoot Star Wars and as usual, Eric will be aiming for a stellar performance.
Stage 7 video uploaded29.Apr.2009, 23:15:00 Just uploaded yesterdays video. We managed to get a bit more action from yesterday's stage which Eric won. You can really see the speed of the Trophy Truck in some of the shots in this extended clip. It shows some of what you need to do to win a stage. Dont be fooled when a BMW comes past in one frame, Pro-System still went on to win the stage. Nothing wrong except the result29.Apr.2009, 22:13:00 Today's stage from QUARYAT to OUENI wasn't quite as brutal as expected meaning speed was the necessary ingredient. Eric's Trophy Truck is fast, up on power and down on weight from last years rally, but unfortunately not enough to make the difference. The team's strength comes when the going gets tough and the navigation is complex. Today, with a smoother than expected course, and lots of dust being kicked up by the Pro-System Racing Chevrolet for the chasing pack to follow, it was always going to be an uphill struggle. Still, Eric and Alex are not quitters and they pushed hard from the start. Eric remarked that the BMWs of Terranova and Novitskiy looked mightily quick on the stones as they were overtaken by both. However, Eric kept pushing and caught the BMWs further down the road when their speed seemed to have caused both tire problems that Eric on his Open Country M/T-R tires did not suffer. Having jumped into the lead on the road, they were then passed by Schlesser whose buggy is a veritable speed machine. However once again, the teams strengths saw them pass Schlesser as an error of navigation by the buggy left Eric in the lead on the road again. Eric was forced to drive a little slower than he would normally to conserve his gearbox as they could not afford to lose this but despite this they were still, the first car to reach the finish. The frustration for Eric and Alex came as cars they had passed on the road, arrived at the finish with slightly better times pushing Pro-System Racing into 8th place on the stage after all the cars were at the bivouac. The team did nothing wrong, the car had no mechanical problems, but the stopwatch doesn't lie. While a little disappointed with the result, Eric was pleased the car is in good condition for the remainder of the rally and in his post race interview commented, "To also announce that we still did not know the least puncture, contrary to all our adversaries. Thank you in Toyo for its excellent products!" Maybe he was tempting fate, but not one puncture the entire rally is pretty astonishing. The rally has now moved back to Tunisia where the rest of the rally will be held. Tomorrow's special offers 275 km of varied terrain for the competitors, with canyon tracks, small ergs and dunes before arriving at the famous Ksar Ghilane oasis. 
The view from the front28.Apr.2009, 22:15:00 There are days like Sunday, when the team is having problems on the road and no information is available and no help is possible that it could seem like someone has angered the gods. And there are days like today!! Eric Vigouroux, after a barnstorming drive through murderous terrain has driven the Pro-System Racing Trophy truck into first place on stage seven. Pro-System have once again outdriven the biggest spending factory teams to bring home a victory. About time too said the team who are getting used to Eric and Alex's giant killing heroics. The Chevrolet Trophy Truck, running on Toyo Open Country M/T-R tires has overcome tremendous adversity to give Eric and Alex the front view tomorrow when they will lead the field away from the start. Lets start at the beginning. I said yesterday that the marathon stage was a killer and sure enough, seven cars and six bikes did not even take the start this morning having been broken by the course. Unable to face 397 km of rough flinty terrain, they withdrew. Key to Eric success was his tires. You would expect me to say that, but in fact I didn't, Eric did. I give ou his words below. “Today, it was true happiness, one day without stories and stress. The key of the success was in the tires. During the briefing, the organization had warned us that the stage would be very stony, and destructive for tires. Also I set as a goal to myself to do everything to avoid punctures, and to adjust our speed with to the quality of the tracks,” explained Eric at the Quaryat bivouac. “Indeed, on the road, there were cutting stones, like real knives. Once moreover, our tires Toyo Open Country M/T-R gave us great satisfaction. We are the only car in the eight first that did not have a puncture. Other drivers even stopped twice to change wheels. In addition, Alex carried out a perfect navigation, the performance was there, and we enjoy this victory of the special stage with happiness, which comforts us from the problems we have had before. We were able to show the true potential of the Trophy Truck, and thus draw the attention of the media to our small team.” So there! The Pro-System Racing Trophy Truck moves to 7th in the overall classification, 4h14 behind the BMW X3 DC of Argentinian Terranova, who leads the race. The eighth stage, tomorrow, will be hard again, with a timed sector of 365 km which should be perfect hunting ground for the Trophy Truck.
New Video just added28.Apr.2009, 09:40:00 We just added some video from stage four. we hope to have more video to add later. We seem to have lost stage 3 's video and stage 5 should be available soon also, I admit that for those of you who dont speak French, the interviews with Eric on previous videos may not be the most exciting part . The stage four video just uploaded has a bit more action and only a few words at the ends from the driver. Hope you enjoy it. Whisper it! Phew, what a relief!27.Apr.2009, 22:40:00 Yesterdays half of the marathon was a killer stage. Only twelve cars managed to arrive within the allotted time. Naturally, the Pro-System racing trophy Truck was one of them, but she limped into the bivouac very much the worse for a very hard day. With no assistance allowed and very tired driver and co-drivers, the prospect of getting up today to attack the second half of the marathon was not an appealing one. Eric and Alex are fighters however and were ready for the rigours to come today except the stage was cancelled because high winds on the dunes made visibility impossible and could have led to catastrophe. Eric admitted, they were relieved not to have to push the truck in such atrocious conditions. Believe me, they were not the only ones to feel relieved. The storm which caused the cancellation of the timed stage also played havoc at the bivouac the night before and very nearly took the bivouac away into the Libyan desert. Once in Brack, Eric could finally break his silence to explain part one of the marathon stage. Although it ended with problems, it started well with the Pro-System racing trophy truck achieving one of the fastest times to check point 1. Hitting the dunes after CP1, the car started to have problems until finally, Eric and Alex stopped at the second checkpoint to change the alternator. That cost one hour of race time. That itself would have been enough to challenge the team but shortly after, an oil hose failed in the last sector of dunes. Step forward navigator Alex Winocq, who showed his resourcefulness carrying out a miracle repair, remaking the oil circuit with pieces of surplus hose. Despite this, Eric reckons they lost about three hours attending to these problems. Even with three hours of unforeseen repairs necessary, Eric Vigouroux and Alexandre Winocq were able to get to the bivouac within the maximum time allotted, one of only 12 cars to manage this. They now sit 9th in the general classification, with a difference of 4h14' 50'' on the leader. Whilst the top step of the podium is all but gone, Pro-System Racing will be pushing hard for stage victories and to achieve the highest place they can overall. The Trophy Truck, tonight back in the hands of the mechanics, will be like new for tomorrows stage. Stage 5 images27.Apr.2009, 13:08:00 Images of stage five. Awfully big grains of sand they seem to have in Libya. I don't know where this was in the course since we have no word from the team but it looks heavy going for the Pro-System Racing Trophy Truck. Let's hope they didn't suffer any punctures on their Open Country M/T-R tires. 
Satellite reception27.Apr.2009, 13:07:00 No race today as the second part of the endurance stage was cancelled early on because of lack of visibility on the dunes caused by very high winds. The satellite reception has been a bit indifferent so we had a delay on getting some pictures. Yesterday the race team were in "lockdown" in the bivouac as they were half way through the endurance stage and no press or assistance are permitted to join the driver and co-driver so we had to wait for news and pictures. We hope to have more video for you today as well. For now, you can see some extra images below from stage four plus new images from yesterday stage five. A full report of yesterdays half of the endurance stage including video should be available later today after the team reach todays bivouac in Brack. 
Problems continue....we hear26.Apr.2009, 23:49:00 Information today is a bit sketchy as the Eric and Alex are at the bivouac at Oubari, half way through the endurance stage. From the result it is clear the Trophy Truck has encountered some kind of problem as Eric is now two hours down on the lead. The question is why. Press and assistance team members are not permitted in the bivouac because it is a two day endurance stage so we await more information. Eric and Alex were ninth in the stage having started 17th after yesterdays problems but their time has slipped due to something which occured between 370 k m and 403 km. What we have been told is that the Trophy Truck has suffered an oil hose prolem which may be related to yesterday's power steeering hose issue and also alternator problems. However, Pro-System racoing are definately still in the race and after tomorrows 360 km second half of the endurance stage, the team will be able to speak directly to Eric and Alex to find out what is happening. Unwelcome to libya25.Apr.2009, 14:57:00 It was a very unwelcome start to the Libyan stages for Pro-System racing today. A small incident caused the loss of power steering and lost the team about 50 minutes making a repair. Eric described the twisting start of the stage as "sinuous" and with a heavy car fully gassed for the stage, a steep turn proved disastrous for the team. 6 km into the stage, Eric ran over a large protruding obstacle which tore off a power steering hose. Eric didn't try to shift the blame saying it was his own fault and ruefully reflecting that he may just have wasted a "joker". In fact the consequences of this minor off were dramatically compounded by the power steering problem which was out of proportion with the scale of the incident. Eric and Alex immediately spotted the fault and after attempting repairs, set out to meet their service truck after about ten minutes. The Trophy Truck had to be nursed to the service truck which was 100 km down the road. The mechanics did a stellar job of making a quick repair getting Eric and Alex back in the race in just 25 minutes. Pro-System Racing may not have the number of mechanics of the factory teams but the guys showed that quality can make up for quantity occasionally. repair complete, Eric attacked the remainder of the course on a mission to minimize the lost time and the car flew through the remainder of the stage. With the time taken to repair the car and the need to drive slowly to reach the service truck, the total time lost for the Trophy truck was about 50 minutes. Whilst frustrated at the bad luck that such a small incident caused such a big problem, Eric was delighted and relived that the Trophy Truck was otherwise undamaged in the incident and remains competitive. Tomorrow, Eric promised, the Pro-System Racing team will be on the attack from the very start. Overall, the team slip to 9th overall, just behind the Mitsubishi Pajero MPR 13 of Deveaux. But the two stages to come in Libya are treacherous, with two long specials on sand, where the Trophy Truck excels and the team hope to catch up some of the lost time.
Getting up to speed on stage 324.Apr.2009, 18:31:00 Eric and Alex took todays high speed stage at an incredible pace. the 356 km race went well for the team and they came home fourth taking them to fourth place overall. Pro-System came to Tunisia with one of the smallest budgets and with preparations to the car as much as could be afforded but knowing the factory and semi factory teams had deeper pockets inevitably meaning the team would have to give 110% even to keep up never win beat some of the extremely experienced and talented field. Achieving 4th behind three factory teams is a victory in itself. Eric Vigouroux said his strategy for the stage was to keep pushing but avoid punctures. At the end of the stage, Eric brought the car home intact and in a very fast time. Yesterdays tripmaster problems were overcome by some "field maintenance" which is like normal maintenance but a bit more physical. it meant the navigation was pinpoint accurate and the Trophy Truck rolled up to the bivouac having lost no time and suffered no punctures or mechanical incidents. mechanical incidents are going to be key for the team as they have only three mechanics to service the car compared to the full teams of the factory cars. Eric has to drive to avoid breaking the car as he cannot compete in the service area. Fortunately after another smooth drive from Eric, the mechanics in Ras El Oued service area will only have routine maintenance to manage tonight. The special was fast from the start but after crossing some railtracks, the terrain changed to harder, more treacherous going before finishing on the sand on which Eric excels. Saturdays stage, between Ras El Oued and Darj, some 288 km, means more sand, mostly on trails but also the first `'off-piste' ' excursions. This is Pro-System Racing's opportunity to gain some ground since their experience on such terrain and Alex's navigation will give them an edge. Tomorrow also, the race crosses into Libyan where the overnight bivouac of Darj. is located There, finally, the team will come face to ace with the large dunes that typify African rallying. Expect fireworks.
Shortened 2nd Stage23.Apr.2009, 20:01:00 Arriving at the finish of todays shortened special stage, Eric Vigouroux had mixed feelings. Pleased with the car he said they were really very reasonable today. However, the shortened stage left them less time to chase down the cars ahead. With traps everywhere to catch out the slightest lapse in concentration, it was ideal hunting ground for the experienced pair. The course still consisted of recently formed muddy swamps caused by the rain along with prickly pears and giant oversized cactus. The Trophy truck doesn't have a windscreen so every one of the muddy swamps had to be crawled through at walking page so that the water did not enter the car and cause widespread damage to the electrics. Vigouroux came upon the buggy of Delahaye which had just barrel rolled fortunately without serious injury but illustrating the respect needed to be given to the course. Another minor glitch hit the car when the tripmaster (the instrument which gives the precise distances between the indications of the road-book) went slightly out of order. It left Eric braking about 300m too early for each turn. Given this and the need to slow right down for the water hazards, it is a miracle that at the end of the stage he is only 3 minutes 30 seconds behind stage winner. On the plus side, the most even competitor for Pro-System, the 2 wheel drive buggy of Jean-Louis Schlesser was only 40 seconds faster than the 2 wheel drive Trophy Truck. Eric is still very firmly in touch with the lead. only 3 ' 49 ' behind Argentinian Terranova and his BMW X3 DC. Tomorrows stage sees the going get rough with 356 km of special which, while rough, should suit the Pro-System Racing Trophy Truck. 
Prolog23.Apr.2009, 19:02:00 Yesterday's super special on the beach was not a course which favours the 2wheel drive cars. Eric opted for safety bringing the car in 9th as reported. before. The couse itself was heavier going than ewxpected becaus eof the rain and the motorbikes wich started first had churnred up the track at the start quite considrable when Eric arrived. Initially the trophy truck got bogged down in the sand but after a while they were flying and there time of just 35 seconds behind scratch shows that their package is a force to be reckoned with. It was just as well that this beach stage didnt call for too much navigation as the radio allowing Eric to talk to navigator Alex didnt work. Communication bewteen the pair is vtal so the problem has to be resolved befor the start of stage two. The race gave the team a chance to shake down the car and make sure there were no teething problems before the endurance stages. One casulaty of the rain is that the second stage has had its length reduced, the mountainous and forest terrain being too dangerous to contemplate so only 60km were raced today. As a result, Pro-Sytem Racing finished 8th in the stage. they are now up one place in 8th overall, 3minutes 30 seconds behind the leader Novitskiy in his X-Raid BMW X3CC. More information about todays stage will follow along with images. We have a small difficulty uploading the video but it should be fixed shortly. On the Beach22.Apr.2009, 22:56:00 The race has started with a 5km sprint around the beach. Cars started 2 by 2 and put on a spectacle for the crowd. Eric finished a respectable 9th, 35 seconds behind the lead. 10.38 tomorrow, the first car sets off on stage two, a 561 km run with 250km of timed special which starts in a forest with a technical winding course and speeds up towards the end. The course calls for bravery since their always exists the possibility of going off a steep drop or hitting a tree. navigation will also be key since there is more than one way to conquer the forest. Pro-System are ready for the challenge. Whilst the Trophy Truck lacks the acceleration and outright speed of some of the cars, the engine is pushing out more power than ever and they have secret weapon "Winocq", ace navigator and veteran of African rally raids, 
African Sun22.Apr.2009, 16:41:00 Well anyone expecting to be improving their tan is dissapointed today since we have heavy rain instead of the African sun we were all expecting. The Super Special on the beach tonights starts at 17.10 Central Europe Time so the results wont be clear until after about 20.00 Ordinarily that would be no problem since 24hrs a day is a short day for Pro-System Racing however as I have to be on a plane tonight it may take until tomorrow to get the team news and pictures uploaded, sorry. I will get the story up as soon as I can, promise. Normal service is resumed tomorrow. Hopefully, along with the normal service will come normal weather, as the Trophy Truck doesnt have windscreen wipers (or a windsreen). 
All at Sea21.Apr.2009, 16:30:00 After a day at sea, the team arrive in Tunis. The ship taking the competitors to the race, the Carthage, became a floating race office as the organisers commenced the administrative checks on board. This is the first time a ship has been used for administrative checks as far as we know. These checks and the technical verifications continue today and tomorrow in Tunis. Eric has his papers checked on board the Carthage. The view from the deck - Where's Tunisia? Eric and Alex were particularly pleased to discover they had a first class cabin allocated. It will be the last luxury available to them for some time so Eric and Alex made full use of the facilities.
The champagne, the luxury... No, their room wasnt that big, this is the team in the restaurant Eric meets big the "Grand Fromage" of the race, Stephane Clair, head of organising company NPO.
Eric says hello again to "the boss" Alex is a refined sort of chap as you can tell from this candid shot of him taking afternoon tea. Note the angle of the finger, if only there were still a French royalty, he would be a certainty to join. On the other hand, the team are under pressure now and as you can see, Larry Foddrill is concentrating deeply on the race strategy.
"I'm sophisticted dont you know" "I am actually meditating, honestly!" Whatever they put in the tea on the boat, both Larry and Alex seem to have woken up.
Fortunately, no one suffered any "Mal de Mer" so the team are ready to go and looking forward to the start of the race. The prologue is tomorrow and everyone is ready for the serious work ahead. 
Welcome - We're live21.Apr.2009, 09:00:00 Welcome to the Tunisia Rally blog where TOYO TIRES will be keeping you in touch with all the rally news from Pro-System Racing, car number 300 in the Rally OiLibya of Tunisia.. There's not too much video yet as the race hasnt started but you can see our new TV commercial and footage from last years Tunisia rally in the page banner giving you a flavour of whats in store. We had to change the first draft of the page banner as the logo was not an official one and that started a major change to the video, Check out "Toyo intro" in the previous video episodes, this is the original page banner so you can see if we should have stuck with this and just changed the logo or if the new one is better. Below, you can read about the incredibly short space of time this the team has had to pull their race package together, the start of their journey to join the race and snails!! Every day of the race we will be giving you the inside story direct from driver Eric Vigouroux and the team. Every day we will be adding new images from the rally and video of the days stage so visit regularly to make sure you miss nothing. This blog page is still a work in progress so you will notice a few changes and improvements in the next one or two days. If you have any comments, images or questions, you can email us at motorsport@toyotires.eu Any interesting submissions will be posted and we will try to answer any questions as soon as we can. We think the car looks fantastic in its new livery. What do you think? Is it all show and no go? We'll find out very soon but in the meantime, we think it looks the business. Dont forget to visit the official website of the rally at www.npo.fr/tunisie_2009 or click the link on the left hand side of this blog. The official rally website is availble in English and French. Ready to Race20.Apr.2009, 09:00:00
In the pictures above and below you can see Eric Vigiouroux, driver and team principal standing proudly next to his Chevrolet Trophy Truck. With the new body panels fitted it is now ready to race and it looks like a lean mean racing machine. The race commences in two days time and the team have already left for Marseille yesterday where they will embark for Tunis later today.
Next news will be from Tunis where technical verifications will take place tomorrow prior to the prologue of the rally, a beach "Special" before the rally proper commences on Thursday. 
17.45: Le Puy en Velay20.Apr.2009, 00:00:00
Eric Vigouroux broke his trip to Marseilles with a visit to his parents in the small town of Le Puy en Velay in Central France. Above the team photo shows everyone wearing the team shirts of Team Dakar USA, the Hummer team owned by Robby Gordon who chose Eric to drive their second car in the recent Dakar rally in Argentina. The "Petit séjour" in Puy gave Eric the chance to catch up with his parents as he is based in the USA now but more importantly, it gave the American members of the team the opportunity to sample traditional French cuisine. A lunch consisting of very strong cheese and snails.
Despite their exposure to a previously undreamt of culture, Americans, Larry Foddrill and Dustin Wilkinson were both able to make the journey to Marseilles without incident. Eric gave the team a tour of his home town where you can see him outside Le Puy's XIII Century cathedral.
18.00 CET: Thoughts from the driver20.Apr.2009, Eric Vigouroux gives his opinions below in an interview before the start of the big race. - Eleven days of race, and 3274 of it as timed section. The rally of Tunisia 2009 is being announced like a very rough race. How are you going to take it? - The organizers have planned, in Libya, a marathon stage with 1042 kms of special in two days, without assistance in between. What do you think about it? -What do you fear from your contestants? - Tell us, what are the improvements of the Trophy Truck since last year? - And how is made up your assistance team? -Will Toyo Tires will be your “tire” sponsor and partner? - With the number 300, your Trophy Truck is the first one of the car competitors list. Final preparation of the car19.Apr.2009, 00:00:00 Today we received pictures from the France HQ of Pro-System Racing showing the new body panels and TOYO TIRES logo. The car is now tuned and prepped for the race and only needed the new body panels to be fitted to be ready to roll. Here you can see the panels being carefully unwrapped.
Its like unwrapping a Christmas present especially when it its exactly what you asked for. Eric looks pleased with his new toy.
Its surprisingly cosy under the car whilst above in the cockpit its a case of do I cut the red wire or the blue one?
PR guru Marilyn Urtubia with brains of the operation, Danielle Jaspar
Alex and Larry Foddrill hunt for that elusive bolt while in another corner Dustin Wilkinson, Roland Franconville and Sébastien Basset parlent Français in front of the service truck. 
Toyo Tire Europe issue 2nd press release14.Apr.2009, The second press release goes out as we find out that Pro-System Racing will be the number 1 car with a race number 300. We decide to increase our coverage of the rally to include daily pictures and video to illustrate the stories whichj will come live from the race as it happens everty day.
Open Country M/T-R tires arrive in France26.Mar.2009, Tires arrive in France. Althgough Eric is based in the USA now, his workshop is in France, so the 37x13.5 R 17 Open Country M/T-R tires have had to be flown from the USA to France in order to be there in time for the race. Toyo Tire Corporation in the US shipped the tires which arrived and cleared custioms without a hitch.
Pro-Sytem racing Announce their entry in Tunisia rally20.Mar.2009, 00:00:00 Its Official, Pro-System Racing have announced they will participate in the 2009 Rally OiLibya of Tunisia in their Chevrolet trophy Truck and there's only one choice of tire. 37x13.5 R 17 LT Open Country M/T-R are the weapon of choice for the ardous cross country rally.
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