Major setbacks ruin Eurol Rally Sport’s day
BISHA – Mitchel van den Brink has lost his leading position in the Dakar Rally. On the day he celebrates his 24th birthday, the party for the team from Harskamp was well and truly spoiled.
A technical setback and a small dune cost them a lot of time. After Stage 10, the Eurol Rally Sport crew sits third in the standings. Ales Loprais won the stage. Vaidotas Zala finished second and is the new overall leader.
“We hadn’t experienced much in this Dakar so far. Everything had been running smoothly, but today it all seemed to come together. After 20 kilometres, while climbing a dune, the driveshaft broke. Nothing crazy in itself. We got the shaft out quickly, but unfortunately the wait for a new one took a long time. Richard de Groot was the first to arrive, but he didn’t have a shaft with him. Then the Czech driver Valtr stopped, but he had the wrong one—a small shaft.” In the end, the White Reds team—Polish driver Darek Lysek, with Darek Rodewald also on board—came to the rescue. “They gave us a shaft, but it still cost us over 40 minutes.”
Trouble never comes alone, as was proven once again: Mitchel’s fast assistance crew, Bart van Heun and Jarno van de Pol, had problems at the same time. “While we were stopped, my dad was stuck too, so he couldn’t deliver the shaft quickly either.”
‘We got stuck on a small, soft dune’
Mitchel and his co-drivers continued the remainder of the 420-kilometre special stage at high speed. “After that, we drove a good stage. But after the second neutralisation we got stuck on a very small dune. We came off a fast section and bogged down in a very soft dune. Martin Macik pulled us out, but that cost another 15 minutes. We had a lot of bad luck today and lost time. We’re grateful to Macik for pulling us out. He also stayed behind us for the rest of the stage,” Mitchel said.
The Czech defending champion was already out of contention for the win after yesterday. Macik is the constructor of the Iveco Evo4, which both he and Mitchel drive. The Polish team White Reds provides fast assistance for Macik.
Sugawara pulled upright
Martin van den Brink, Peter Willemsen and Richard Mouw also expected more from this memorable day. “Unfortunately we lost time as well. We stopped with Mitchel and got stuck ourselves. Ben de Groot pulled us free there. After that we also stopped to help the Japanese driver Sugawara back upright. He was lying on his side in the dunes. That cost some time too, but you never know—maybe we’ll need him at some point as well. That’s why we stopped. For the team and Mitchel it’s a shame we had an off day. But we have to keep going. There are still three days to go. Anything is possible in the Dakar Rally,” said Van den Brink senior, for whom the word “quit” does not exist.
Czech driver Ales Loprais and Lithuanian Vaidotas Zala delivered De Rooy’s fourth 1–2 of this Dakar. Soltys, Macik and Kay Huzink completed the top five. Mitchel ultimately lost 1 hour, 11 minutes and 19 seconds and finished seventh. His father Martin—who finished less than a minute behind his son—was eighth. After Mitchel’s tough day, Zala is also the new overall leader. He holds an 18m55s advantage over Loprais, with Mitchel in third. The birthday boy starts Stage 11 tomorrow with a deficit of 35 minutes and 30 seconds.
No burying the hatchet
But in the Dakar Rally nothing is certain. The Harskamp squad will definitely not be burying the hatchet.
The stage from Bisha to Al Henakiyah will be a war of attrition for both man and machine. The total distance is nearly 900 kilometres. The timed section is not to be underestimated and measures 346 kilometres. Mitchel knows the fight is far from over. Eurol Rally Sport has no doubts about its tactic for the day: attacking is the motto.
Source: Eurol Rallysport
Text: Berry Kamphorst
Photo: MMphoto
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