Stage 12 Empty Quarter Marathon – Shaybah
Stage for today contains 191km liaison and 185km special stage.
Stage info
Liaison > 191 km – Special > 185 km
Press release
On Friday the 13th, Van Kasteren Jr. can’t believe his luck!
Janus van Kasteren jr., Marcel Snijders and Darek Rodewald started the twelfth stage with a minimal lead in the general classification of only 1 minute and 12 seconds. Boss Machinery Team De Rooy Iveco was the fourth truck to start the 185-kilometer special stage. In line with the past few days, this special stage also takes you through The Empty Quarter with its almost endless sand plains and dune areas.
Even the large Iveco Powerstar can become a small Dinky Toy in that imposing environment. Everyone in the bivouac seems to agree that the Dakar belongs in these areas. The soft sand makes the highest dunes almost impossible hurdles to overcome. Here, on Friday the thirteenth, Janus, Marcel and Darek find their happiness. The direct competitors are caught up and overtaken one by one. Technology, navigation and driving; everything went right today.
Fortunately, Janus jr. was able to report back to us soon after the stage today. The euphoria can be heard in his words: “Great day. We actually passed Martin at about twenty kilometers. After that it was really tough dunes. Heavy climbing. At one point we passed Macik and Gerard (de Rooy – red) was watching us and gave useful signals which helped us to reach the top of a dune. A super day and I think we made a good step towards the first place. Darek was very helpful too. You notice that he has sixteen years of experience and so does Marcel. A great team. Really nice. We are now on our way to the bivouac. It’s our best Dakar day ever. We crossed the dunes full throttle.”
The result is devastatingly good. The two remaining competitors for the title had to give in more than half an hour to the unchained Van Kasteren jr. Teammate Martin van den Brink lost 31 minutes and 51 seconds and the Czech Martin Macik lost 32 minutes and 21 seconds.
Martin van den Brink bows his head to technology
Technical problems affect the Harskamper
SHAYBAH – The battle for the victory in the Dakar truck category seems to have been decided early today. Martin van den Brink had some setbacks and lost more than half an hour. “Unfortunate, but glad we arrived in the bivouac.”
Teammate Janus van Kasteren won the stage. Boss Machinery Team De Rooy Iveco started the last two stages in Saudi Arabia with a lead of more than 33 minutes.
After yesterday’s win, the advancement in the general ranking and the loss of time for Van Kasteren, today everything was exactly the opposite. Martin van den Brink opened the stage from the marathon bivouac to Shaybah with a time gap of 1 minute and 12 seconds.
The 52-year-old Harskamper in the Iveco Powerstar of Eurol Team De Rooy Iveco wanted to continue the attack on leader Van Kasteren. However, the team of Martin, Erik Kofman and Richard Mouw soon ran into problems.
“The gearbox didn’t shift higher than fourth gear. With the gear lever in neutral, the gearbox stayed in “drive”. We couldn’t go faster than 90 kilometers per hour. We also had to reset the engine a few times, which went into safety mode and, moreover, a tire came off. Too bad we lost time, but we’re glad we made it through the dunes and arrived in the bivouac. That’s just the way it is. Tomorrow is a new day.”
With today’s victory, Janus van Kasteren is getting close to the overall victory in this Dakar Rally. The pilot from Veldhoven, the Netherlands, starts the final weekend with a lead of 33 minutes and 3 seconds. However, the experienced Martin van den Brink never gives up. “We will do our best again tomorrow. Nothing is certain in the Dakar Rally and we will continue to fight until the last meter.”
“Stuck on a high dune”
Yesterday, son Mitchel van den Brink had problems with the turbo on therefor had to start today far behind father Martin and teammate Janus van Kasteren. The young Harskamper limited the damage and finished second in the special over 185 kilometers. “We had a good pace,” the pilot said afterwards. “We just got stuck on a high dune. We lost a lot of time there. Ben van de Laar pulled us out and I am very happy about that. We couldn’t get out on our own. Given our pace and the time lost on that dune, we could certainly have gone for the stage win. Tomorrow there is a new opportunity and we will try to get a good result together with my father.”
The youngest pilot of Eurol Team De Rooy Iveco will again act as guide for his father. “We start in front of him but then wait for dad. Just like Thursday in the first part, we will take the lead and have him follow us closely. That also worked great yesterday. A nice example of cooperation,” says de Harskamper.
Fourth in standings
In the battle for fourth place, the 20-year-old rally driver did well today. Czech Jaroslav Valtr lost 2 hours and 28 minutes due to problems in the dunes of Saudi Arabia. Van den Brink junior is now fourth overall again.
1, 2, 3
The first seven trucks in the daily result are all IVECO. That will certainly make the brand from Turin Italy proud. Tomorrow the participants will leave the Empty Quarter in a special stage of 154 kilometers. It will be the last chance to surf the dunes and force big changes in the standings. Today the three teams of Team De Rooy stood out. With a real 1-2-3 it leaves a great impression. Tomorrow Janus van Kasteren will give the maximum again on behalf of Boss Machinery Team De Rooy Iveco in search of even greater happiness!
Tomorrow the rally circus will head to Al-Hofuf. The special, with a last section of dunes, covers 154 kilometers. Sunday is the final stage of the 45th Dakar Rally and the participants will finish on the podium in Dammam after a special of 136 kilometers.
Results
Our three drivers crossed the finishline! Is was a tough stage full of sandy dunes today!
Stage timing
rank
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rank
2
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3
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dnf
| Stage Rank | Number | Driver | Rally stage time | Time gap to first |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 502 | Janus van Kasteren | 2h30m38s | – |
| 2 | 511 | Mitchel van den Brink | 2h49m16s | +18m38s |
| 3 | 506 | Martin van den Brink | 3h02m29s | +31m51s |
Stage analytics
Stage tracking
Overall rally competition Trucks
After rally stage 10
| Overall Rank | Number | Driver | Rally overall time | Gap to first | Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 502 | Janus van Kasteren | 49h32m50s | – | +15m00s |
| 2 | 506 | Martin van den Brink | 50h05m53s | +33m03s | – |
| 4 | 511 | Mitchel van den Brink | 53h19m30s | +3h46m40s | +1m00s |
| X | 504 | Vick Versteijnen | dnf | dnf | – |
Videos
Video by Rallymaniacs
Video by Omroep Brabant
Video by A.S.O.
Video by IVECO coming soon…
Photos
Photos from photographers Rallymaniacs, MMPhoto, Fotop and Ronald Loedeman 😎
