Van Loon Upholds Honor with Fourth Place
HAIL - Another day of mixed feelings for Team de Rooy FPT in the Dakar Rally. Anja van Loon performed well among the trucks with her fourth place in the second part of the marathon stage, but Aleš Loprais lost time again and finished 11th. Vaidotas Žala also had a hard time on Thursday. He finished 20th in the fifth stage.
“Anja did a great job with her brothers Jan and Ben, and we are thrilled as Team de Rooy FPT”, said team manager Henk van Leuven. “Loprais had a very tough day. Three leaf springs broke. It was just the conditions of the special that caused this. For some, it is worse; for others, it is better. And Žala had some punctures and a broken leaf spring. Shit happens.”
Bad Luck Factor
There was little Van Leuven and his team could do but accept the result. "With one person, the bad luck factor is a bit higher than with the other, and that can be different tomorrow." Team de Rooy FPT also had something to celebrate with Van Loon's fourth place.
This was primarily due to her and her brothers' tactics on the trickier-than-expected stage from Alula to Hail. Van Leuven: “The route was challenging. The organization had announced in advance that the special would have a limited number of stones and rocks.”
The Opposite
“In practice, it was the opposite: many more than yesterday. Anja, Jan, and Ben rode fast but conservative and risk-averse. And it paid off for them. After the setbacks with Loprais and Žala, we could use it.”
Thursday's damage dropped Loprais from second to third in the overall standings. The Czech did not want to give up. Van Leuven: “He said to me, ‘We’ll keep on fighting. We will keep going.’ He was in a good mood. Absolutely not down. He and his crew are going for it. As they should be.”
Source: Team de Rooy FPT
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