MARTIN VAN DEN BRINK WITH 'SQUEEZED BUTTOCKS' TO THE FINISH LINE
Mitchel van den Brink added his fourth podium finish in the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally. The youngest driver of Eurol Team De Rooy Iveco finished second behind Martin Macik.
Martin van den Brink had a slightly lesser day and had to settle for fifth place, well behind. An engine failure was the basis for the deficit of 17m51s. In the standings Martin remains second. ,,From Tuesday it will only really start,'' said the experienced driver from Harskamp.
'Beautiful test with extreme dunes'
The formations of Eurol Team De Rooy Iveco ended the first week in Saudi Arabia satisfactorily. The eighth stage formed the second part of the marathon stage. The 345-kilometer test was followed by a connecting route of almost four hundred kilometers to the Saudi capital Riyadh. The test was a mix of sand, dunes, gravel paths and stones. A varied special with the necessary risks.
,,It was a super nice day,'' Mitchel told us just after the test. ,,There were extreme dunes in it with very high climbs. We rode nicely and soon caught up with Loprais and my father.''
The young Harskamper and his co pilots Moi Torrallardona and Jarno van de Pol had few or no problems. ''We only broke the right side window against a branch. That made it a little tricky for navigator Moi, but other than that we didn't experience anything.''
'Macik unfortunately just a little faster'
At the finish, Mitchel only had to beat Czech Macik. ''Too bad, we were leading for a large part of the stage. Macik was slightly faster in the last part. On the fast trails with all those stones he is just really fast. All in all, it's still a great day for us,'' Mitchel said before starting the long journey to the bivouac in Riyadh this afternoon.
The Eurol Team De Rooy Iveco team starts the rest day in fifth place overall. The gap to leader Loprais is 1 hour 51 minutes and 51 seconds. The young driver must hope for a bad day for the Czech. At least the constant performance of the trio in the Iveco Powerstar is not to blame. Mitchel finished among the first five in every special except the second stage (17th after four flat tires). The steady performance does open the door to a possible podium finish in the second week.
Engine failure
That is certainly the goal for father Martin van den Brink next week. As number two in the standings, the 52-year-old Harskamper is Team De Rooy Iveco's highest ranked driver. ,,From Tuesday it will really start,'' said Martin. ,,Today we lost some time which is unfortunate, but we are not hopeless yet.'' The team in the Iveco Powerstar with number 506 had to concede more than 14 minutes to leader Loprais today. The reason is obvious. ,,We drove all day with an engine failure. We tried everything by resetting the system regularly, but it didn't help. At the very beginning Mitchel came flying past us in a riverbed. No matter what we did we couldn't go any faster and watched him disappear like that. ''
'Happy to be there'
At the end, the damage remained somewhat limited for Martin Erik Kofman and Richard Mouw. ''We are happy anyway that we made it to the finish. At the neutralization it turned out that we had an overheated intermediate gearbox. The four-wheel drive stays in it even when we drive on asphalt. Also, the exhaust temperature was too high. We are now going to take out the transfer case in order to reach the bivouac unscathed,'' Martin said just after the special.
,,By the way, it was another great test. We didn't experience very many crazy things. Only on top of a dune they stopped us and we had to drive around the dune. The last part of the stage we drove with our bottoms squeezed together because of the technical problems. We were a bit worried and are glad to be here. On to the rest day.''
For the Eurol Team De Rooy Iveco team, that rest day in Riyadh begins with the knowledge that Martin and his men are Team De Rooy's best ranked team. The gap to leader Ales Loprais is 16m17s. Teammate Janus van Kasteren follows in third (at 38.03). Martin Macik, 47 seconds behind Janus, is fourth and Mitchel starts the final stage of the 45th Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday in fifth overall.
Tuesday's special will cover 358 kilometers. The focus next week is Thursday and Friday. Then the marathon stage in the giant Empty Quarter desert region is on the program.
Hats off to fast assistants
The assistance truck with Nico Stijnen, Joël Ebbers and Christiaan van der Haar on board crossed the finish line Saturday night slightly battered. Eurol Rally Sport's fast assistant was just barely out of the test before dark. ,,We all started half an hour later. Unfortunately that meant we just missed the finish by daylight,'' said the enthusiastic driver from Maaseik.
,,It was a long day. On the fast trails, we drove slowly, about 100 to 110 kilometers per hour to spare the truck. It was a nice stage with some really difficult dunes and after the river beds we got those dirty stone paths at the end,'' said Nico, who saw afterwards that the Iveco was damaged at the front. ''Yes, a little damage at the front on the grille. That's due to the dunes, but we can repair that with the help of Eurol Rally Sport's service team. Otherwise we can be satisfied and I am very happy with the cooperation in the cabin. Navigator Joël and mechanic Christiaan are really doing an excellent job.''
This morning the team in the Iveco Trakker started the 346-kilometer test in 22nd place. When the Eurol squad arrives in the Riyadh bivouac tonight, the Eurol Rally Sport teammates can take their hats off to the trio in the Iveco Trakker.
Automatic translation from the original Dutch version
Source Eurol Rally Sport
Text: Berry Kamphorst
Photo: MMphoto
