Fire has been an unexpected and unpleasant protagonist in the early stages of the Dakar. Alexandre Pesci’s Rebellion DXX RD was set on fire in the pre-rally tests, but the action of Nasser Al-Attiyah allowed both Pesci and Romain Dumas to take off as the Frenchman had one of the Qatari driver’s Toyota . With the same drama, Camelia Liparoti’s assistance truck was burning the night before the prologue dispute of the Dakar. The fire destroyed all the belongings of the veteran Italian pilot, without Liparoti being able to save her clothes, her personal computer or her passport.
Camelia Liparoti completed the prologue with the ‘automatic pilot’ on, worried about her situation. At first, Camelia thought about abandoning the race, but she also had no options to leave Saudi Arabia after losing her passport in the fire, so she finally decided to continue in the race. For that end, Liparoti has received help from X-Raid, a team that gives technical support to Camelia and that has ‘exceeded’ its functions to leave clothes, a place to sleep and everything necessary for the T3 class rider can continue in competition at the wheel of her Yamaha YZX1000R.
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«The Dakar 2022 is not an adventure, now it is almost a drama for me. Luckily, no one was hurt. We are fine and healthy, but I’m shocked, you can’t think it’s true. You wake up and it’s a nightmare. I lost everything. I thought about staying in Jeddah or coming home, but I don’t have a passport. In the end I thought the best thing was to keep competing, do the prologue and then see what we could do. I got an X-Raid jacket because I don’t even have clothes, I just have my overalls, helmet and running shoes. Everyone has helped me a lot, especially Tobias Quant. Everyone has tried to help me and I will continue in the Dakar»Assured Camellia Liparoti before the first stage.
Said and done. Camelia Liparoti has not only continued in the race with the help of X-Raid and many other actors in the Dakar caravan, but she has done it brilliantly. In fact, Camelia finished twelfth in today’s stage with a final time of 5 hours, 34 minutes and 37 seconds, almost an hour and a half from the winner of the stage. Fruit of the honor of the Italian, Camelia’s adventure continues in what is his thirteenth appearance in the toughest rally-raid in the world. Although repeating the successes of 2021 is impossible, this takes a back seat. Camelia is still in action with Spanish co-pilot Xavier Blanco. And that is already cause for celebration.