Dakar 2020: Flat tires and a difficult waypoint cause time loss for Van Loon

Erik van Loon and Sébastien Delaunay were starting the second stage of Dakar 2020 very strong. At the obligatory break they were in seventh position, despite a puncture. After the break, they were in the dust of some quads which caused two more punctures. They lost about 30 minutes while they had to search for a difficult waypoint. They lost 47 minutes to De Villiers, who won the stage.

Van Loon has mixed feelings after today’s stage. “We started very strong, if we can drive around the seventh position, we are doing a great job in this field of competition. The gaps between the other competitors are very different after the break and we got trouble because of it. We had two flat tires in the dust. Eventually, we were leading a pack of cars and trucks, until we couldn't find a waypoint. We were looking for it for about 30 minutes, which is a pity. But tomorrow we will be back!”

Tomorrow’s stage starts and finishes in Neom. The route leads towards the border with Jordan and goes through valleys, mountains and sand and the Dakar will reach its highest altitude at 1400 meters. The stage has a length of 414 kilometers, the first car leaves near 9:15 (7:15 CET) and is expected to finish around 14:12 (12:12 CET).

Source: Press release of Van Loon Racing