The tablet that centralizes all navigation instruments stopped working mid-stage, forcing the driver from Oliana and his co-driver Txema Villalobos to navigate by sight, without any references.
Despite the difficulty of driving without a roadbook while trapped in the dust cloud of the competitors ahead, the Repsol Toyota Rally Team managed to finish in 23rd position in the Ultimate category.
“We had a pretty good start, but around kilometer 100 the tablet stopped working. Everything essential to guide us during the race is in there, so we had to complete the special without any kind of reference.”
The Rally Raid Portugal wasted no time in testing Isidre Esteve and Txema Villalobos. At the wheel of their Toyota Hilux T1+, the Repsol Toyota Rally Team crew had to face an unexpected challenge in the very first stage: competing without navigation instruments for much of the route. Despite this setback, the Spanish duo managed to complete the 302 timed kilometers in a creditable 23rd position in the Ultimate category.
The day was divided into two sections: an initial selective sector of 297 kilometers and a short 5-kilometer special that was simply the prologue from the day before, run in reverse. Esteve began the first special well aware that it wouldn’t be an easy day, given his late starting position (45th), which meant dealing with heavy suspended dust. What he didn’t expect was for the tablet that manages all navigation instruments to stop working around kilometer 100, forcing him to continue without references and rely only on sight and manual calculations.
The importance of this device is critical, as it controls the roadbook, the waypoints, and other aspects such as managing the liaisons between sectors, timing, and monitoring speed-limited zones. Without it, the stage became an exercise in intuition and survival.
“We had a pretty good start, but around kilometer 100 the tablet stopped working. Everything essential to guide us in the race is there, so we had to complete the special with no references at all. Txema had to manually write down times and subtract to calculate exits, but we were very limited. Not knowing where we were or what was coming up forced us to slow down. Even so, we managed to finish, which was no small feat today. Tomorrow will surely be better,” explained the driver.
This Thursday, September 25, brings another big challenge for the Repsol Toyota Rally Team. The second stage, departing from Grândola (Portugal) and heading into Spain to finish in Badajoz, will be the longest day of the rally, covering a total of 660 kilometers – 430 of them timed.
Source: Repsol Toyota Rally Team
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