The last stage of the Dakar Rally is over and with it, the beautiful ride of Anja van Loon, Ben and Jan van de Laar also came to an end. It was the first time the siblings were together in the truck and they did so successfully. They finished eighth overall and were very pleased with that, a worthy tribute to their parents.
The final stage brought a ninth time for Anja, Ben and Jan. “I got to do the mass start,” Anja told me. “I liked that, going into the desert with four trucks. And that went fine, it was a tough test, but we got ninth, so that was fine. The goal was to finish and we did.”
The best daily result was the fourth time during the 5th stage of the rally. Every day they finished in the top 17, staying pretty well out of trouble and making few mistakes. “We really drove a very good rally. We alternated driving and that worked out really well. That way we were able to use each other's strengths during the rally. But how tough it was, so many stones in the first week and what dunes in the last few days. We really enjoyed it.”
They were especially proud of their result. “We came here for the top ten, we finished eighth, so we succeeded. But the most important thing was that we did this for our mom and dad. How incredibly proud they will be of us if they could have seen this. They were really with us and without them we could never have done this.”
For Anja, it was her last Dakar Rally for now. “My little girl is starting to grow up now and I want to be there for her as much as possible. We facetimed each other every day, but I will just watch the next Dakars at home. I will be doing other rallies next year, I don't know exactly what yet, but I like the game so much.”
Ben and Jan are not yet sure if there will be a Dakar sequel. “Never say never, but not for us for now. This was very nice to do with the three of us, what the future brings we'll see.”
Automatic translation of the Dutch version
Source Van Loon Racing
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