Dakar 2023: Pascal de Baar - "We can compete in the top 3"

Prior to the 2023 Dakar Rally, Gert Huzink and Pascal de Baar wanted to compete for the podium. Due to various technical problems, they did not succeed. However, both Huzink (stage 3) and De Baar (stage 10) did book a day's victory. De Baar recorded a total of six top 5 results this Dakar, three of which were in the top 3.

De Baar had to throw in the towel already in the first stage due to a leaking oil line. Gert Huzink later had to leave the race with a broken cylinder. Even out of competition, the problems continued to occur, forcing Huzink to quit altogether and De Baar to skip a stage. Even in the final stage, De Baar had to stop briefly because of a loose hose from the intercooler. He finished the final stage with the sixteenth time.

"Too bad, but that's also part of the Dakar," De Baar knows. "Without the technical problems we could easily keep up with the top three. Unfortunately it may not be so and we had too many problems."

Automatic tranlsation from the original Dutch version
Source Riwald Dakar Team