– Nani Roma’s Borgward BX7 EVO performed well but he had some drawbacks.
– Ricardo Porém started off fast but had some issues towards the end.
Neom, Saudi Arabia, January 7 2020.- Borgward Rally Team drivers, Nani Roma (301) and Ricardo Porém (332), finished the 417-kilometre stage of today. Roma ended in 19th place while Porém ended 22nd in a stage were once again drivers had a tough time with navigation.
Nani Roma had no issues with the Borgward BX7 EVO as the car gave him the chance to come closer to the race leaders. However, he had great navigation problems again. As a consequence, he lost valuable time, but he is still hopeful that the results will turn around in the next couple of days.
Nani Roma after the stage ended: « We had a hard day with navigation. Unfortunately we made a big mistake in the beginning. We drove into the wrong canyon and only found out after a few kilometers that the canyon was closing and we had to turn around and lost time. In the second part of the stage we had trouble finding a waypoint and lost more time. Fortunately, the Borgward BX7 EVO was running very good today! We keep fighting and looking forward for tomorrow! »
Ricardo Porém started off fast today showing great speed and pace with the Borgward BX7 EVO. He was really close to getting a top 10 position, but a problem with the suspension held him back. The Portuguese crew was able finish the stage but lost valuable time. Porém is confident that the Borgward Rally Team will fix the problem so that he can continue racing.
Ricardo Porém commented at the bivouac: « We had a good stage. We showed very good pace. The first part of the stage was really, really fast. We could keep a good pace and were well inside the top 15 and knocking on the door of the top 10. Unfortunately, we had some suspension issues about 20 km for the end of the stage and lost about 10, 15 minutes. Luckily, we were able to finish the stage and we are sure that the Borgward Rally Team can repair the Borgward BX7 EVO. All in all it was a very promising day! »
Arturo Ruiz,