From the Atacama Desert to the wintry Alps

This month, Porsche star Romain Dumas and co-driver Xavier Panseri are tackle two of the world’s most challenging competitions in quick succession.In the space of less than a year, Frenchman Romain Dumas will have taken part in the Le Mans 24 Hours, the Pikes Peak Hill Climb (which he won), the Tour de Corse, the Dakar and the Rallye Monte-Carlo! The only world famous fixtures missing from the list are the Indy 500 and the Monaco GP!

The factory Porsche endurance racing driver was given permission until January 31 to occupy his leisure time as he wished, so he snapped up an opportunity to participate in the recent Dakar in an Optimus Buggy (MD Rallye Sport), with support from the French charity L’Ecurie du Cœur – Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque.

Navigated by the experienced François Borsotto, he was 19^th fastest on the first stage but things went downhill afterwards with several transmission failures, wheel changes, power steering failure and an episode stuck in a dry river bed…

By the mid-event rest day in Iquique, Chile, he looked physically drained, yet he was still determined to reach the finish in Buenos Aires.

The next day, however, he was eliminated by a gearbox problem on the final Chilean stage. “The event taught me the virtues of being patient and I met a lot of incredible new people,” he says.

Romain consequently had a few unexpected extra days to recover before heading for another motorsport classic, the Rallye Monte-Carlo. His Michelin-equipped Porsche 997 GT3 RS 4.0/Michelin features a striking orange livery in a personal tribute to Björn Waldegard, winner of the 1970 Monte in a Porsche 911 S. His objective is to win the inaugural round of the newly-created R-GT championship against former factory drivers François Delecour and Marc Duez.

In the case of Xavier Panseri, the job of getting back from South America was significantly tighter after he scored his first Dakar podium alongside Krzysztof Holowczyc (Mini). Immediately after Saturday’s prize-giving ceremony in Buenos Aires, he caught a flight to Madrid, then another to Nice in order to be available for the first day of recce for the Monte-Carlo which he is contesting for the sixth time. He even won the 2011 event outright with Bryan Bouffier.

“Last year, I turned down a chance to make my Dakar debut for the first time because the two rallies overlapped,” says Xavier who came second on the 2014 Monte in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC/Michelin. “This year, I have to say ‘thank you’ to the organisers of the two events for staggering their dates!”