There was no talk of anything else. The conversations, and the indignation, in the afternoon-evening of the bivouac in Hail revolved around the same theme: the conflictive navigation point in which a very large part of the pilots got lost. Sainz was one of the most affected and already explained that it was due to very confusing indications in the roadbook which made it easy to confuse the correct course to follow. And other Spaniards who were also affected by them, corroborate it in the same way.
“Today the good co-drivers have not found the place … It can’t be that so many people get lost, that’s because something’s wrong”, says Nani Roma, who left more than an hour in the attempt and almost collided head-on with Sainz in that area: “We were going well, but there was a moment that was out of logic. In the end we saw a helicopter and we were guided by that We accept that navigation is difficult, but when you demand you have to be perfect. ” “It’s a confusing point. The navigation is complicated, but if it is well done “, Add Alex Haro, your co-pilot.
The same thing happened to the motorcycles, which faced it first. “It was a non-visible ‘waypoint’ in which we came with very few references. It was impossible. It was very difficult to find it, I entered a long loop of several kilometers, going through the same place several times and I was even a little worried about whether I had gasoline to get to the end, “says Barreda, with about 40 minutes lost that does not diminish his spirit: “Every day things change, the important thing is to stay in the race.”
Those who got it right
On the other side of the coin are those who got it right and found the way to cross that point without too much trouble. First, Al Attiyah: “There has been a time when we have seen a track that went a little to the right, but Matthieu (Baumel, his co-pilot) He told me: ‘No, you on the left.’ And then it turned out that he was right. “ TO Loeb It was good for him to click twice and for Nasser to pass him, he just had to follow him: “It’s easier when you go behind because you can check the line and everything. We haven’t had any major problems. “
And going back to the two wheels, Santolino He also hit the hotkey. “I was going with De Soultrait, we stopped to check the ‘roadbook’ and decide, and we said to ourselves: ‘Shall we go on? I think we’re fine, let’s hit it.’ . There are moments when you doubt, many changes of direction, directions that make you doubt … It was a bit risky “, explains the man from Salamanca, fifth to ten minutes from Sanders. For the good and for the bad, this stage will take time to forget.