Three cows on the track. One, despite the pilot's attempt to dodge it, was mowed down. The drama came close to yesterday during the stage of the Italy-Sardinia rally underway in the north of the island. Avoided thanks to the skill of the driver.
The stretch was the one between Monte Lerno and Sa Conchedda: 49.90 demanding kilometres. The first car to travel the dirt roads is the Toyouta Gr Yaris Rally1 driven by the Finn Kalle Rovanpera, flanked by the navigator Jonne Halttunen.
The unexpected happens immediately after a curve: the car goes out at full speed, but on the track there are three cows that the owner hasn't closed inside the pen in view of the race, as he should have done.
Rovanpera sees them, despite the speed he tries to avoid them. But he takes one in full, which ends up on the ground after a flight.
«The driver was very good because he tried not to take them», says Tony Madeddu, a rally enthusiast who filmed the scene, «but unfortunately one remained in the middle of the roadway». And she was overwhelmed.
Rovanpera finished the stage with a delay of 46 seconds.