WADI AD DAWASIR – It was a bittersweet day for Team De Rooy FPT in Stage 8 of the Dakar Rally. Vaidotas Zala, winner of Stage 7, claimed second place on Monday and moved into second position in the truck standings. But the day proved costly for teammate Ales Loprais, who made contact with defending champion Martin Macik during the stage, with both drivers losing time as a result.
"This stage was tougher than yesterday. Most of the day went fairly smoothly. We kept Mitchel van den Brink [standings leader] behind us for a long time—everything was going really well", Zala reflected. "There were a few really tricky navigation sections, but Paulo [Fiuza] handled them well. He did great work again."
During the challenging stage, a 721-kilometer loop around Wadi Ad Dawasir with 486 kilometers of special, Zala and his crew opted for a conservative approach in the Iveco Powerstar. "We didn't push too hard. We hit a lot of rocky terrain today, so we decided not to take any risks. The standings look good for us and we didn't want to throw that away on mistakes or unnecessary risks."
Playing It Safe Pays Off
In hindsight, playing it safe may have been the right call. Zala and his cabin crew ran into some technical issues. "That forced us to back off a bit. Fortunately, it wasn't anything serious. We were actually lucky the problems showed up today and not tomorrow, then we'd be dealing with them for two days. We lost five minutes to Mitch. The gap is still reasonable [38:33]. Tomorrow, we head into the second marathon stage. We need to stay focused, but so far things are looking good."
Loprais was understandably far less satisfied with how Stage 8 played out. He and Macik made contact in the heat of battle. He ultimately crossed the line in sixth and dropped two positions in the truck standings, where he now sits fourth.
Demanding Day
"It was an extremely demanding day and in the final stretch we were just surviving", Loprais said. "I'm glad nobody got hurt. I'm still positive, because you never know what can happen."
The second marathon stage kicks off Tuesday. The first leg covers 541 kilometers, including 418 kilometers of special. Crews will spend the night at a bivouac deep in the desert, and team service on the vehicles is prohibited, only repairs the cabin crew can handle themselves are permitted. The second leg follows Wednesday, with the finish in Bisha.
Source: Team De Rooy FPT
Photo: Fotop / Rallymaniacs
Disclaimer:
As a service to the sport we all love and follow, Rally-Raid Network posts numerous media releases from a wide variety of sources on our website. Due to the large number, and some times short time available, it is nearly impossible to review each public release. These articles are written by reporters or press officers who work for various organizers, teams, drivers, riders, and other parties, and they do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Rally-Raid Network.
