Learning to drive in the sand, while behind the wheel of a Dakar Rally-winning racecar, is like taking Driver’s Ed in a Formula One car.  Fresh from taking overall victory in the world’s most grueling rally, the Mini ALL4 Racing is a jacked-up, diesel-powered powerhouse that loves to go fast (very fast!) over any type of terrain.  In the past, the Dakar Rally used Paris, France, as a starting point, before crossing over into the grueling terrain – and oftentimes treacherous political landscape – of North Africa.  Since 2009, the Dakar Rally has been run in South America, to ensure the safety of the race’s hundreds of participants. The threat of running over landmines or being kidnapped by desert marauders is now, thankfully, a thing of the past.  But Dakar still represents the ultimate test of man and (off-road) machine. The 2014 route comprised 13 official stages, stretching from Argentina, to Bolivia, and ultimately ending in Valparaíso, Chile.  For approximately two weeks, and more than 5,200 miles, teams of cars, bikes, quads and trucks (yes, massive tractor-trailer-sized trucks!) all battled for victory.  This year’s overall winner, Nani Roma, took top honors in his Mini ALL4 Racing alongside his seasoned navigator, Michel Perin. This was Roma’s second Dakar victory, with his first coming on a KTM motorcycle in 2004.  Mini dominated this year’s race, with all 11 of the brand’s racecars finishing within the top 20 positions. The ALL4 Racing took a 1-2-3 finish, to lock out the entire podium. But what’s it like to drive one of these extreme machines?  Until now, you had to get the call from a racing team to find out. Luckily for us, Mini opted to ship the winning car direct from Chile, to California’s famous Dumont Dunes, located about 100 miles west of Las Vegas.  Also along for the ride was none other than Nani Roma and his navigator, Michel Perin. The latter helped direct us over the dunes, often by shouting “follow the lines!” whenever the lunar landscape had yours truly grasping to follow the shallows ruts that previous drives had left behind.  I’ve driven lots of different vehicles, in all sorts of unusual locations, ranging from a Zamboni ice-resurfacer in New York’s Battery Park City ice-rink, to a supercharged Jaguar sedan on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Nothing compares to the surreal nature and total sensory overload of driving the Mini ALL4 racer.  Mini is very clear that this racing car has almost nothing to do with the brand’s production-based Countryman crossover. Under the skin is a custom-made chassis, developed by the German racing firm X-Raid.  Standing 177.4 inches tall, the Mini ALL4 Racing is nearly 16 inches taller than a stock Countryman. And at 4,180 lbs., it weighs nearly 1,000 lbs. more than the stock model. It needs that level of ground clearance, and a very stout construction, to traverse rocks, sand, gravel and whatever else the Dakar Rally throws at it.  In this instance, with me cinched down in the massively bolstered driver’s seat, the key was maintaining momentum over the soft sand of the Dumont Dunes.  Go too slow, and the car will soon sink. Go too fast, and you’ll flip over.  This isn’t a car that enjoys a delicate touch, however. The clutch pedal is used only to get the Mini rolling from the stop. Once up and running, you shift by slamming the tall wand of the 6-speed sequential shifter forward or back for upshifts and downshifts.  The 3.0-liter diesel engine owes its basic construction to a stock BMW motor – remember that the German automaker is a parent of the Mini brand.  In this level of racing tune, this powerhouse delivers 320-horsepower and, most importantly, at least according to Nani Roma, it produces a whopping 537 lb.-ft. of torque.  The transmission and Xtrac four-wheel-drive system are suited to make the most of this low end punch and acceleration. Top speed is quoted at only 110 mph, though Dakar doesn’t put a premium on top speed bragging rights.  And believe me; the Mini ALL4 Racing is plenty quick when traversing sand dunes, particularly while sideways. Imagine drifting a car at 80-90 mph over a dozen speed-bumps, and that’s what one particular arcing turn felt like in this Mini.  In a straight-line the experience is similarly otherworldly. The engine is screaming its mechanical buzz, rocks are pinging around the wheel wells, and the Mini keeps bobbing and floating its way over the soft sand.  Switching for a spot in the passenger’s seat helped to prove this Mini’s true all-terrain capability. With Nani Roma as our desert chauffeur, the ALL4 Racing absolutely scorched its way across the dunes.  He’d occasionally check in via the helmet intercom: “Are you okay, is it alright?” An enthusiastic thumbs-up, or wide grin, was all he needed to keep going.  Pointing the Mini’s nose towards one of the tallest dunes, Roma kept his foot down all the way to the top.  We’re not talking some cutesy beachside dunes, thank you very much. The largest elevation at Dumont Dunes rivals the height of the Empire State Building!  With the Mini perched at the top, Roma again hit the gas pedal, as the ALL4 Racing blasted along the peak with the dune falling away on either side of us. It would have been absolutely terrifying, if there wasn’t a two-time Dakar Rally champion behind the wheel.
A Mad Max-like Mini Cooper, and skyscraper-sized sand dunes, put our nerves to the test in the California desert.