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Romain Dumas second in RGT for his first Monte Carlo appearance

At the wheel of a Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0l, Romain Dumas finished second in the R-GT class, with six fastest times.

Romain Dumas and Denis Giraudet, Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0

Romain Dumas and Denis Giraudet, Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0

Jo Lillini

Romain Dumas
Romain Dumas and Denis Giraudet, Porsche 911
Romain Dumas
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Romain Dumas and Denis Giraudet, Porsche 911
Romain Dumas and Denis Giraudet, Porsche 911
Romain Dumas and Denis Giraudet, Ford Fiesta RS WRC
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Romain Dumas, Porsche Team

Before the start of the endurance season, with the Porsche Team and the new Porsche 919 Hybrid, Romain Dumas immediately followed up his Dakar experience with the Rallye Monte Carlo for his first big challenge of 2015.

Following a successful first experience in rally-raid despite retiring due to a broken gearbox, the Alès, France native reached the finish of the grueling Rallye Monte Carlo in his very first participation.

At the wheel of a Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0l, developped and entered by his own team, Romain Dumas finished second in the R-GT class, with six fastest times alongside his co-driver Denis Giraudet.

Doing the Monte Carlo immediately following the Dakar was a gutsy bet.

Romain Dumas

For his very first participation in the legendary Monte Carlo, and generally because it’s a rally that features snowy and icy stages, Romain Dumas started the event cautiously on Thursday. Gaining in confidence, he upped his tempo, clocking the fastest time in class on three of the six stages on Friday : La Salle en Beaumont - Corps twice, and Les Costes – St Julien en Champsaur.

The following day, the official Porsche driver added another fastest stage time to his tally, this time on the longest stage of the rally. The last day of the event also proved to be positive, with two more R-GT quickest times, both on the Col St Jean – St Laurent stage. Romain also finished an impressive 18th overall on the power stage to end the rally second in R-GT and 26th in the general classification.

"I was expecting a difficult rally, and it was " admits Romain Dumas. " The numerous issues encountered by many competitors confirms this. For us, the first objective was to avoid mistakes and finish the rally. A lot of things were new for me, as well as for the team. It was our first Monte Carlo and experience here is particularly valuable. We had a disadvantage in that departmen but we tried to make up for it as much as possible. Some stages were more difficult than others. When they were closer to what we are used to, we showed that we can be competitive.

Like everyone else, we encountered every type of road condition imaginable, and in that light, we learned a lot. The most important for us was to take in all the experience we could with the goal of future participations. Overall, the result is positive, even if I’m always aiming to win. We know what we have to work on and we will work in that direction. Doing the Monte Carlo immediately following the Dakar was a gutsy bet ! And to do it with a Porsche was even more gutsy. But I don’t regret it. I think generally people appreciated seeing Porsches back at the Monte Carlo ! I hope we can do it again in the future. "

Romain Dumas will now start preparations for his 'circuit' season with the Porsche Team, where he will drive one of the 919 Hybrid entries in the World Endurance Championship and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Romain Dumas

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