It’s over. MINI is out at Dakar thanks to a dramatic accident. Guerlain Chicherit had an accident behind the wheel of the MINI Countryman during a test drive he took on the rest day in Arica. The X-Raid Team driver suffered from a head trauma, which – fortunately – did not need for him to be taken to the Arica hospital; Chicherit was just kept under observation in the medical antenna of the rally organization on Saturday evening. The Countryman on the other hand didn’t fare as well being terminally damaged in the accident. According to Sven Quandt, X-Raid Team Manager the car flipped end-over-end a couple of time before coming to rest. The team looked into repairing the Countryman but a lack of time and parts ruled that possibility.
Darn. I was really hoping the best for them. Were there any pictures released of the MINI? Maybe next year they'll get 'em. :/
Big bummer and in a test, not the race too.. Good news is that the driver will be OK and that there will be another Dakar!!!
Glad he is going to be OK, but this is not good for MINI. Why did they only have one car? IMO I think they needed a better showing.....but remember when Porsche entered Dakar in 1985? They experienced a disappointing start: all three cars failed to finish. However, in 1986 the 959 finished 1-2. So I guess MINI has one more year to gain respect
I don't see how MINI lost any respect. This is the first year for Dakar and WRC. I believe the car made a good showing going from 74 to 7. Crashes happen, so it is not like the car failed to preform. Jim
Just finished watching the Dakar round up on TV and they said the Mini showed itself very well, especially considering this was basically a test run. You have to consider how fast this has come about, in race car development it's an infant. With the data they gleaned from this year they'll be back for the 2012 Dakar with all the bullets in the gun! Respect? Heck yea!!
I have to agree Mark. I'll bet some of the front runners will be keeping a close eye on this car for the future. Not so much the Hummer however. Jim
For this being them "trying" out the new car, they did great. MINI's been out of the game for a while, they just need to fine tune a few things. Next year they'll get 'em!
See @ 1:45. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndm-eoKrNHk"]YouTube - EN - The stage summary - Stage 7 (Arica - Antofagasta) - 2011/01/09[/ame]
That Countryman looks like a plane crash scene not a car crash. Yikes! The drivers compartment of the car looks like it held up well. They need to send the cage builder & welder a thank you note.
Lmao. Yeah. I'm curious to see how the accident "actually" happened. Looked like a flat area? If I wasn't mistaken for the brief second they showed.