Making amends 12 years later

Dakar 2019 | Stage 9 | Pisco > Pisco
January 16 th 2019 - 11:10 [GMT -5]

Jérôme Renaud has an old score to settle. He started his love affair with the Dakar on two wheels. He keeps bittersweet memories of his sole participation on a motorbike, when he had to withdraw from the race three days before the finish after overcoming the Mauritanian desert. Just a few months later, a terrible crash in the Pharaons Rally left him with three broken vertebrae and ended his career as a biker. Jérôme still feels the effects of that accident, but he has taken the time to recover and his passion for rally raids burns as bright as ever. 12 years later, he has come back in a car to take care of his unfinished business. "[Co-driver] Max [Delfino] and I are racing in a 2009 Springbocks. It's probably the oldest car in the rally, but it's very reliable and works really well", he says. "But we've had our fair share of trouble since the start of the rally. First, we had to go without power steering for three days, right after breaking six transmission belts in two days, which had never happened to us before! It hurt my hands, my arms… and my morale a bit too. On the third day we finished the stage on two-wheel drive mode after breaking a rear drive shaft. The next day, we lost a wheel, but we managed to fix it and stay in the race." These minor setbacks have done nothing to dampen the enthusiasm and determination of the driver from Châteauroux, who is determined to put the frustration of his withdrawal from the 2007 Dakar behind him. The accident he suffered in Egypt could well turn out to be the key to his success: "Everything has been going fine for the last few days because, at any rate, I decided to drive very cautiously. I'm sticking to this approach because my back problems mean I have to take it easy on friable sand sectors. We've got two days left and, fingers crossed, but I'll be very happy to make it to Lima."

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