• Another two stage wins for X-raid
For X-raid, everything is running according to plan, in the Desafío Ruta 40: in the third and fourth stages, the pairings Nani Roma (ESP) / Michel Périn (FRA) and Orlando Terranova (ARG) / Paulo Fiúza (POR) secured a stage win each, with their MINI ALL4 Racing. Currently, Roma holds the overall lead with his Argentinean team-mate following four minutes behind.
The third day of the Argentinean rally was demanding for both drivers and vehicles. The two pairings needed more than six hours to cover the 466 kilometres. Fech Fech and dunes turned the special stage into an extraordinary challenge – and Roma coped best with this task as he proved by setting the fastest time. In the fourth stage, the sand again took centre stage. The venue of this stage: the famous dunes of Fiambala that are well known for already having exasperated numerous Dakar-Rally competitors. The two MINI ALL4 Racing completed the 192-kilometre stage without encountering major problems. Only Roma was forced to make a short stop due to a puncture while Terranova and Fiúza won the stage.
There still are another two stages to go, in the Ruta 40, featuring distances of 456 and 146 kilometres respectively. On Saturday, the teams will cross the finish podium in San Juan.
Nani Roma: “On the past two days I was the first to start into the special stages, thus playing the ‘pathfinder’. Doing so in the sand is anything but easy. I tried to make no mistakes in the dunes and we got on well – but in the last part we were forced to make a short stop due to a punctured and Orly could pass us.”
Orlando Terranova: “For me, familiarising myself with the MINI ALL4 Racing and improving my cooperation with Paulo represents the top priority. Yesterday was a very long and exhausting day. Today we were clearly faster as the track was far more technical. But the different kinds of stages are good for me. They help me improving and accustoming to the MINI.”
Result stage 3:
1st Nani Roma (ESP) / Michel Périn (FRA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 6h 25m 05s
2nd Orlando Terranova (ARG) / Paulo Fiúza (POR) MINI ALL4 Racing – 6h 130m 05s
3rd Alejandro Sargo (ARG) / Javier Manzur (ARG) VW Amarok - 7h 53m 54s ...
Result stage 4:
1st Orlando Terranova (ARG) / Paulo Fiúza (POR) MINI ALL4 Racing – 3h 01m 34s
2nd Nani Roma (ESP) / Michel Périn (FRA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 3h 04m 56s
3rd Jose Silva (ARG) / Mariano Ayala (ARG) Prototyp - 7h 53m 54s ...
Overall standings after 4th stage:
1st Nani Roma (ESP) / Michel Périn (FRA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 14h 12m 36s
2nd Orlando Terranova (ARG) / Paulo Fiúza (POR) MINI ALL4 Racing – 14h 16m 44s
3rd Marco Bulacia (BOL) / Benjamin Lozada (BOL) Toyota - 18h 41m 49s
