Helena and Jose cant believe the accident (foto: David Santos Jr/ www.webventure.com.br)
Helena Deyama and Joseane Koerich can only cry. The only feminine pair in Sertões International Rally 2009 suffered two huge losses during last Tuesday (30th) special. Helena cant tell which loss was more important, but they are out of the race and saw their car explode after a fuel leak.
Im still chocked, said Helena, on this Wednesday morning to Webventure. The pilot, that celebrates ten years off-road this year, said that they had been having mechanical problems since the second special, and that they were all fixed, and they were confident to finish the race.
We started to smell alcohol, and of course this is frightening, so I looked for a place to stop. When I stopped the car, the back part of the car that we cant see thanks to the fire barrier that separates the extra fuel tank from the cockpit was already in flames. It was impressive, told Helena.
For now, the explanation is that the mouth of the tank broke and started to leak. The pair started the special with two full tanks, that is, they were racing with 130 liters of alcohol, and thats why they ran right away, because they knew the car was about to blow up.
I didnt have time to take anything out of the car, not even the fire extinguisher, because it was too risky trying to get it from under the seat. We just ran away. Josi screamed Fire! Fire! The car is going to explode!, and everything was left inside, our documents. We got out wearing only our clothes and helmets, she remembers.
Solidarity Help came with the first two cars that came behind them, and that used all of the extinguishers they had, but the flames were stronger than anything. The fire was uncontrollable. I started to cry, had a nervous breakdown watching the fire. And thats not all. I wasnt crying just for the loss of the car, but for having to abandon the race. We were very determined, we were second in our category. With the help of each other, we would overcome the sand, Im sure. We still dont understand what happened. There was something wrong, and it seems that we werent supposed to continue, something took away our equipment , evaluated Deyama.
Helena gets sad also because they had overcome all previous problems that showed up, like the shock absorber, which made them stop several times. We were dragging the car since the second special, but we were confident.
Besides losing the car, all their equipment were left inside it, and now theyre out of money, out of documents and personal objects. O André (Chaco) adopted us here, because we are left with nothing else, without a penny in our pockets. We lost all our documents, cards, shoes, money, and cell phones But what moved us more was the human side. We lost material stuff, but people were very supportive. As soon as it happened, all the competitors stopped and tried to put down the fire; they saw that I was nervous, crying, and they cleared the woods, so that I could sit in the shade. I was very impressed by their solidarity.
Its a fragile moment for the pair, that is just trying to forget the worse moments and move on, but memory will forever carry the scenes that took them from the race and almost caused a larger problem in their lives. I keep wondering why did this happen. Jose and I have so much faith in God, and something out of nothing, just put our car on fire and ended our rally. I am still thinking this is a nightmare. I cant believe said Helena Deyama, disheartened.
Este texto foi escrito por: Lilian El Maerrawi/ www.webventure.com.br
Last modified: julho 1, 2009
