The error in the roadbook that gave drivers a “nightmare”

An unusual error by the organizers caused some chaos this Sunday on the Dakar. In a stage already shortened due to the absence of safety helicopters in the start area and troubled by rain, the drivers in the Car category also had to deal with an error in the roadbook.

A dozen cars headed into a valley but couldn’t get out of it by following the instructions…simply because the instructions were wrong. Some lost up to half an hour in the maneuver.

In order not to penalize the trapped drivers, the organizers finally decided not to count around twenty kilometers of the special. Nasser Al-Attiyah, with a time clocked at around forty minutes, therefore lost only 11’15 on Lucas Moraes, winner this Sunday, and above all took back time from the leader of the general classification, Henk Lategan.

The Qatari explained with a laugh that he had experienced a “nightmare” during the special, since with his co-driver Édouard Boulanger, they remained stuck for a long time without really understanding the situation. “It’s a long story!” declared Boulanger, winner of the Dakar in 2021 with Stéphane Peterhansel.

“To summarize, at km 157, there was an error in the roadbook that the leading cars did not see. It was in a mountain and that led to very narrow canyons. We were the first there so we were looking a mistake, we went back, we tried again and it led to the same place other cars were arriving and we were looking for the exit together. Finally, there were 12 cars together. I counted 12.”

“We were really looking for what to do to get out of there because there was clearly an error but given that we are used to having a 100% accurate roadbook, we stuck to the roadbook and we didn’t see where could be the error. Finally, we found a valley whose heading was completely wrong [par rapport aux indications du roadbook]but it was the only way out.”

Directions given by the race director!

David Castera, the director of Dakar, landed his helicopter to show the pilots the path to follow, but they remained in uncertainty afterwards. “We went there, we went with it and after a few kilometers, a waypoint appeared, OK…” commented Boulanger. “We were finally back on the track but it wasn’t going well at all.”It got a little better from there. I think we stayed [piégés] about half an hour. We entered and exited four times and at the end of the special, we came back to the others. […]”

“It was shit. The roadbook is well done, the information is good, but it’s very short navigation, super short, and it’s devoid of common sense, it has no logic. […] It’s bullshit.”

Despite these mishaps, the best-placed Dacia crew did well by making up a third of their deficit this Sunday, as they closed to Henk Lategan to 21’57. During the special, Boulanger was nevertheless convinced that they were going to lose big after this very unusual sequence.

“Since they decided to cancel the zone where there was the error, looking at the ranking it was a good day for us, but really stressful. Since there was no communication, we couldn’t not knowing that it was canceled when we were in the car Before the finish line, it was really a shit day and afterwards, with the section canceled, we were able to have a good rhythm. “It was a good day, but definitely not a pleasant one.”

Avec Mario Galan

Photos from the sixth stage of the Dakar