This rally driver had good reason to finish the race in his quickest possible time, and it wasn’t due to any red mist that came over him. What spurred Driver Robert Consani and codriver Maxime Vilmot on was a fire inside their cabin. To be fair that would have been enough for most of us and we would have all bailed out long ago, but as they were 500m from the end of the stage, they pushed on so that they would not only finish the stage but bail out when there was help nearby. This onboard footage gives us a front seat view of what the final moments of this stage was like for them. Consani explains in more detail on his Facebook page what exactly happened.
The rally is finished for us. At the start of Special Stage6, a piece broke at the rear of the car and we were in two-wheel drive. 3/4 of the way through the stage, the rear began to catch fire and we stopped to extinguish its start of the blaze. After consultation with the team on the phone, we decided to leave, but 500 m before the arrival, flames sprung up in the car, we made the decision to go to the stop point in order to have all possible fire extinguishers.
Between arrival and the stop point it was unsustainable and we had great difficulty in getting out of the car. We did our utmost to extinguish the fire. We thank all present commissioners as well as all the drivers who stopped by to give us their fire extinguisher. We are a little burnt and have breathed some smoke, but nothing serious.
Thanks to all the marshalls and drivers who stopped helped us today, we owe you one, guys.
