Once again, the Monster Energy Rally Raid Team had to cope with a day of mixed emotions. In the 10th stage of the 2015 Dakar, the Argentinean pairing Orlando Terranova / Bernardo ‘Ronnie’ Graue took their red and black MINI ALL4 Racing to second position. Krzysztof Holowczyc (POL) und Xavier Panseri (FRA) in the blue and black MINI ALL4 Racing finished seventh. Meanwhile, Spain’s Nani Roma and his French navigator Michel Périn encountered a day to forget. The pairing crashed into a deep hole that wasn’t documented in the road book and rolled. Fortunately, they both survived the accident unharmed. Afterwards, Nani safeguarded the danger point and gave the other drivers hints to drive slower.
Due to the accident, his team-mates weren’t able to really enjoy their results. “Nani hasn’t made a mistake today, he just had bad luck,” explained Terranova. “For us it was a really nice route and we tried to win the first stage in Argentina. But today’s road book was a true disaster and we had to look for a waypoint for many kilometres. Nonetheless, having finished second also isn’t too bad.”
Holowczyc and Panseri also had their problems with the waypoints and the road book. “We all had to adapt our style of driving, today,” revealed Holowczyc, “As you couldn’t trust the danger-point documentation in the road book. I was racing at a good pace but unfortunately, we missed two waypoints – although we raced on the track, all the time. I haven’t got the slightest idea what has gone wrong. I feel really sorry for Nani. It’s always bad for a team if one of its drivers has such an accident.”
Currently, Roma and the race-truck crew jointly are working on finding a solution. He is on his way back to the team. The decision if he will be able to continue will be made after an intense check-up of the car. He is on his way back to the team. The decision if he will be able to continue will be made after an intense check-up of the car.
Tomorrow, the field will have to contest the 11th and antepenultimate stage of the 2015 Dakar. On the way from Salta to Termas Rio Hondo, the competitors will cover a total distance of 520 kilometres, including a 194-kilometre special stage. Just as it was the case today, the crews will have to cope with hard terrain and demanding navigation tasks.