Yohan ROBLIN –
In the Dakar, the slightest mistake is fatal. Two crews experienced it in spite of themselves. Wednesday January 5, during the 4th stage between Al Qaisumah and Riyadh, in the Saudi desert, there was some breakage, but only mechanical. This racing day was marked by the spectacular accident of the Toyota Hilux n ° 219 driven by Benediktas Vanagas. Launched at high speed, the car of the experienced Lithuanian suddenly took off, bounced off a dune and rolled over several times. The vehicle’s race finally came to a stop, immobilized in the sand, the wheels upright, about ten meters further.
“Our Dakar is over …”, regretted Benediktas Vanagas, after this beautiful fear. “I did not receive any obstacle information at extremely high speeds.” “I don’t know what happened. Everything seemed normal and suddenly we were thrown into the air.”, commented his co-driver, the Portuguese Filipe Palmeiro. An impressive crash, but fortunately not serious. Luckily, the two men got away unscathed. They were able to extricate themselves from the Japanese 4×4, without visible injuries.
More fear than harm also for Guerlain Chicherit. The 43-year-old Frenchman was no better off. Arrived launched at the top of a dune, his all-terrain vehicle fell with its nose in the sand. For his 11th participation in the rally-raid, the first after a six-year hiatus, the GCK Motorsport driver set off in the sun. He found himself on the roof with his co-pilot Alex Winocq. “I took more risk than usual and that’s it”, conceded the former freeride ski world champion, forced to retire.