The winner of the 2006 car category has arrived at scrutineering. Luc Alphand also appeared to be in great shape physically and already concentrated on defending his title. "A fast start is going to be necessary", he declared. The Mitsubishi driver is disappointed with the modification to the route which led to the removal of the unassisted stage in Timbuktoo : "It's a shame because that type of stage is the team's strong point and bread and butter. But I'm satisfied with the organisers' decision".
The former skier is now comfortable with his status and confirms his ambitions by reminding everyone that he is "the favourite, and I can't wait to get stuck in". His rivals should also take note that their task will be difficult : "Since the last Dakar, I really have the feeling that I've become an even better driver".
"Obviously, my aim is to win". St�phane Peterhansel did not hide his ambitions on his arrival at administrative scrutineering, before setting out the Mitsubishi team's philosophy : "We know that we won't gain a thing by racing against each other. First and foremost, we are a close-knit team. It's the race that will determine the rankings".
Smiling yet determined, the two-time winner of the car category finds this competition healthy and normal.
He also admits to being more relaxed than usual : "This year's later start has allowed me to arrive less stressed". Words of warning for his rivals.
Nani Roma finished in 6th place on the Dakar in 2005 for his first participation in a car, then 3rd in 2006. In light of such progress, the former winner of the motorbike category is one of the main favourites. He is relaxed and feels free in a Mitsubishi team in which the competition is still just as strong. "As a competitor, you always want to win when you take part in a race. Mauritania will be a good place to stand out from the crowd, but it will also be the place where we could lose everything".
Hiroshi Masuoka might be a discrete kind of guy, but he is especially a determined driver. At the scrutineering site, the two-times winner did not waste much time in explaining that for his twentieth participation in the rally, this year his goal is to win the race. His strategy is simple : "Avoid driving errors, avoid technical problems and go for it", faithful to his unwavering attacking temperament.


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The city announced this afternoon that officer Souroth Chatterji did not use excessive force when he arrested 19-year-old Ariel Lawther at a June 15 PrideFest event.
The incident grew widespread attention after a video surfaced which showed Chatterji pulling Lawther out of a crowd by the hair and neck just before punching her several times.
"A final report by the Office of Municipal Investigations, including an analysis completed by an independent consultant, has determined that the officer involved did not use excessive force," city solicitor Lourdes Sanchez-Ridge wrote in a statement. "The evidence may not always reveal what one video, one photograph, or one statement might reveal alone."
Chatterji is back on duty, according to the statement.
She wrote that the city asked "an outside agency" to conduct a review of the incident and that they "arrived at the same conclusion."
"It will be city policy from this point forward to seek third-party analysis in all excessive force investigations, just as we did in this case," Sanchez-Ridge wrote. She added that the incident will prompt a review of training procedures once Cameron McLay — who Mayor Bill Peduto announced earlier this week would become the city's permanent police chief — takes his post.
The announcement comes nearly two months after a self-imposed deadline Peduto appeared to set for himself to investigate the incident.


Congress leader Raj Babbar kicked up a row in Indore on Thursday when he compared the falling value of rupee against US dollar with the age of the prime minister's mother.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at the Congress today, days after its leader Raj Babbar compared the rupee's slide with the age of his mother, saying those who did not have issues to talk about, resort to abusing someone else's mother.
Hitting out at the Congress on Mr Babbar's remarks, he said, "When one doesn't have real issues to talk about, he resorts to abusing somebody else's mother."
The Congress leader had kicked up a row in Indore on Thursday when he compared the falling value of rupee against US dollar with the age of the prime minister's mother.
Addressing a rally Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur, PM Modi, in an apparent dig at UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, said 125 crore people of the country were the "high-command" of his government, which was "not remote-controlled by a madam".
PM Modi claimed that "coffers of banks were emptied for the rich during the madam's government". "However, our government opened doors of banks for the needy youth," he said.
The prime minister asked why Congress was abusing Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who people fondly refer to as "maama".
Unlike Shivraj Chouhan, who is called 'maama' out of people's appreciation, Congress on the other hand "should worry about your own 'Maamas'. Ottavio Quattrocchai 'maama' and Warren Anderson 'maama' who were sent to America in a special airplane," he said, referring to the Bofors scandal and the 1984 Bhopal Gas tragedy.
He said the Congress was voted out of power in Madhya Pradesh 15 years ago because it indulged in dynastic politics and the politics of divisiveness.