• Orlando Terranova wants to go for it, in front of his home crowd
Monster Energy has a short but very successful Dakar history. In the partnership with X-raid the legendary desert-rally has been won three times. 2012 and 2013 Stéphane Peterhansel took the victory and one year later Nani Roma secured the triple for the Monster Energy X-raid team. Additionally, Krzysztof Holowczyc became FIA World Cup Champion for Cross Country Rallies in 2013. The 2015 Dakar Rally will be the next chapter for Monster Energy and the MINI ALL4 Racing. The “Monster Energy Rally Raid Team” will start the engines of their MINI ALL4 Racing vehicles on 04th of January in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires. From there, the Dakar will take the competitors to Chile and Bolivia before the field will return to Buenos Aires to cross the finish line on 17th January.
Roma and Périn are going to contest the 2015 Dakar to defend their title. The pairing succeeded in winning another two rallies, in the 2014 season, and travels to South America well prepared and highly motivated. “Winning the 2014 Dakar – 10 years after my win in the motorbike category – was one of the best moments in my life,” Roma reveals, “But in January, we once again have to demonstrate our competitiveness. The MINI ALL4 Racing currently represents the benchmark in cross-country rallying but the Dakar always represents an extraordinarily difficult challenge. And in addition, the competition will try as hard as they can to pressurize us.”
Terranova also can look back on a successful season. Following his fifth place in the Dakar, the 35-year old finished runner-up in both the Baja Aragon and the Rallye du Maroc. “I want to win and work hard for realizing this goal,” says the Argentinean who is going to race a red and black MINI ALL4 Racing. “I’m looking forward to race in Bolivia for the first time. The marathon stage should suit our MINI really well.”
Poland’s Krzysztof Holowczyc also could celebrate a win with the MINI ALL4 Racing, this year. Having finished sixth in the Dakar, he won the Baja Poland in front of his home crowd. “I want to make it to the podium at all costs, this year,” admits the Pole. “The 2015 Dakar will be somewhat shorter but certainly even more grueling than the previous editions.”
The 2015 Dakar will start and finish in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires. On third January, the competitors will roll across the start podium but only on the following day, they will hit the road for the 8000-kilometre adventure across Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, with the two stages in Bolivia being contested as marathon stage. This means that the pairings will be on their own, without any service in the evening. Only the crews of the other racing cars and the race trucks will be allowed to help in the case of repairs. On 17th January, the Dakar returns to Buenos Aires.
