Dakar 2020: Van Loon suprises himself with 8th time

The 8th stage of Dakar brings the 8th time for Erik van Loon and Sébastien Delaunay. It was difficult for navigation because there were no tracks from the bikes. Delaunay didn't make any mistakes, Van Loon got another blowout just several kilometers before the finish which costs him about one minute.

“We didn't get into the car with the feeling: let's show ourselves today,” says Van Loon. “There were no tracks, just from the cars in front of us, so you had to be careful. We had some nice dunes and there was a part with 40 kilometers flat out. The Toyota is good and feels fine. We have had a blowout two days in a row at a very high speed, which is dangerous, but we cannot do anything about it. The gaps are small today, so it is nice that we are close.”

On Tuesday, the Dakar will go from Wadi Al-Dawasir to Haradh. The stage has a length of 410 kilometers and has two parts. The first has a lot of stones and the second feels, at some point, as a circuit. The first car starts at 10:30 (8:30 CET) and the finish is expected to be at 15:20 (13:20 CET).

Source: Press release of Van Loon Racing