Mathieu Baumel recounts his four punctures in Morocco

Everyone is entitled to their day as a galley slave on the Rally of Morocco 2022. After Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin (BRX) during the first stage, it was the turn of Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel (Toyota) to accumulate problems, this Monday, October 3 between Tan-Tan and Laâyoune.

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The winners of the Dakar 2022, who had performed well the day before by taking a 23-minute margin over the Loeb-Lurquin couple, fell from a very high point, with more than 50 minutes lost in the space of 314 km on the French-speaking tandem. . In the general classification, Al-Attiyah-Baumel were rejected at 33'18''.

A tough day for #TGR @nasseralattiyah & @matthieubaumel, as punctures hamper their progress. Despite this, the GR DKR Hilux T1+ performed well, and despite the setback, the crew will be hunting for stage victories.#TGR #TGRW2RC #NotJustForSport #ThatGRFeeling pic.twitter.com/dxZWBmkjf4

— TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally-Raid & Dakar Team (@TGR_W2RC) October 3, 2022

“We punctured twice, almost in quick succession at the 20th km, explains Mathieu Baumel. Afterwards, we drove calmly, without attacking because we no longer had a spare wheel. Despite everything, the structure of a tire broke inside. I tried to re-inflate it, but I could hear the sound of air escaping, with no obvious hole. »

The Toyota Hilux T1+ of the Overdrive team therefore stopped “18 or 19 minutes”, time to benefit from the generosity of their teammate Juan Cruz Yacopini, who kindly gave them a new wheel.

“We left 25 minutes behind Sébastien (Loeb), continues the French navigator. After the neutralization, we punctured a fourth time, and I am unable to give an explanation. There was no shock, we didn't hit anything, and yet the air pressure was dropping. »

Forced to drive for 60 km on the rim, at 50 km/h, the Japanese 4×4 despaired of finding a companion capable of providing assistance. “But there was such a gap that no one was catching up with us,” laments the native of Manosque (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence).

The damage was becoming alarming, so Nasser Al-Attiyah decided to stop his vehicle in the middle of the desert. “We waited a quarter of an hour and it was finally Erik Van Loon who gave us a fourth tire, because in the meantime, Yacopini had also had a puncture on his only spare tire. »

Finally, as for a possible eighth victory in the Rally du Maroc, Mathieu Baumel is pessimistic, but not resigned. “To get Loeb or the podium, it seems very complicated to me. Unless there are racing facts. We saw a lot of events in a few special stages. »