Stage 2 Sea Camp > Al Ula

The second stage in this rally, our team will move to the Al Ula bivaque today…

Stage info

Liaison > 234 km Special > 367 km

Press release

Martin van den Brink reports to the front

Satisfied faces after third place in difficult second stage

ALULA – Martin van den Brink has reported to the front in the second stage. The driver of Eurol Team De Rooy Iveco took third place for the team’s third consecutive podium finish.

Mitchel van den Brink, who finished on the podium two days in a row, had to deal with some setbacks today. The young driver from Harskamp lost a lot of time due to a series of flat tires.

Mitchel’s sportive suffering was initially eased within the De Rooy team by Janus van Kasteren’s stage win. In the colors of Boss Machinery Team De Rooy Iveco, the Dutchman from Brabant was by far the fastest in the stage over 430 kilometers. Unfortunately, Van Kasteren had to hand in the stage victory afterwards. According to the organization, the crew missed a waypoint. The fixed penalty time is fifteen minutes. Ales Loprais thus took the stage win with a difference of 1m50s.

On the varied stage from Sea Camp to Alula, Martin had to give in 6m11s to the Czech. After the technical problems at the start of the rally, Van den Brink senior can look back with satisfaction on Monday’s stage. The differences in the daily classification are becoming large and for many teams it was a horrible day.

The main victim is Vick Versteijnen. Martin and Mitchel’s teammate had to leave the Boss Machinery Iveco in the bivouac. The damage to the engine could not be repaired in time to continue today’s Dakar Rally. In addition to Mitchel, classification leader Martin Macik also had to bite the dust today. The Czech lost almost 1 hour and 20 minutes to Ales Loprais.

Good result for general classification.

Martin, navigator Erik Kofman and Richard Mouw did very well in the general classification. The experienced driver is now fourth in the overall standings. The gap to leader Loprais is 35m20s. Van Kasteren is second and the Czech Jaroslav Valtr is third at 16.04.

“It was a tough but exciting day. On the many paths with boulders, the chances of a flat tire are high. Today we stopped for 5 minutes to give Mitchel a tire. For the rest, we stayed out of trouble,” says Martin, who got a swollen thumb by racing over the boulders. “I got my thumb caught in the steering wheel. That can happen on a special with so many bumps and holes.”

Martin’s team was one of the few formations to leave the special before dark. “Many teams missed a waypoint today. For us it is a pity that Mitchel lost a lot of time. He was given an extra tire by Gerrit Zuurmond and now he must try to limit the loss in time. But like many other teams, they will have to finish the special in the dark.

Four flat tires ruin Mitchel van den Brink’s day

‘Waited a long time, but happy with the help of Gerrit Zuurmond’

ALULA – Mitchel van den Brink overcame many setbacks in the second leg and managed to limit the damage. The role of the young Harskamper is all but over.

In the second stage of the 2023 Dakar Rally, Martin van den Brink took his first podium finish. Today’s third position is also good enough for fourth place in the general classification. Mitchel finished eighteenth and is now eleventh in the overall standings.

Eurol Team De Rooy Iveco driver Mitchel van den Brink had already tasted the sweetness of a podium finish on the first two days. Today the 20-year-old Harskamper collided with the bad luck devil.

In the day classification, the team, also with Moi Torrallardona and Jarno van de Pol on board, eventually finished eighteenth at 2 hours 24 minutes and 34 seconds. In the standings Mitchel tumbled from third to eleventh place. The backlog of 2.28.51, however, still offers plenty of perspectives. In the coming days, other teams can and will also face setbacks.

“After two excellent days, things went not so good today,” said Mitchel, who was able to accept the loss in a good way. “It’s part of the game. Sometimes you have such a day when things are not going well. We’ve had four punctures and none of us know exactly why.”

The first two punctures can occur quickly. “We have two spare tires on board, so from that moment on we have been riding very carefully. Still, I had another two punctures after that. Dad gave me the third tire at the neutralization. We were then able to drive another 40 kilometers with his tire. I slowed down a bit to avoid a puncture, but it happened anyway. We then had to wait a long time and got a tire from Gerrit Zuurmond. We waited about an hour and a half. The field of trucks is widely spread. We started third and after the first fifteen have passed, one has to wait a long time for the next pilot to arrive. I am very happy with the help of the Zuurmond team. We are happy that we made it to the finish and kept the gap within limits despite the punctures.”

Mitchel and his men, Moi Torrallardona and Jarno van de Pol, remain optimistic for the future. “The rally is still long and anyone can have a bad day. We hope to be able to strike in the dunes next week.”

Van Kasteren strikes a nice blow

It looked like it was going to be a beautiful double stroke for Boss Machinery Team De Rooy Iveco. A possible missed waypoint throws a spanner in the works for now. Janus van Kasteren jr., Marcel Snijders and Darek Rodewald steamed up from the start and led most of the 430 kilometer long special. Only a handful of competitors could keep up with Van Kasteren’s pace. On the second day of the Dakar, classification leader Martin Macik fell far behind. Today he loses 1 hour and 19 minutes to winner Loprais, who seems to have the victory thrown into his lap. In the provisional result, Van Kasteren is 1 minute and 50 seconds behind the Czech with a fifteen-minute penalty. Team De Rooy colleague Martin van den Brink also had a great result with a third place just 6 minutes and 11 seconds behind the winner of the day.

Still full of adrenaline, Janus Jr. spoke of a super nice day: “We went very fast. I think we passed the four ahead of us within the first 50 miles. Then we slowed down a little bit. I thought, now we’re first anyway, just take it easy. And at the finish we still had a 13 minutes lead. Small problem: When we finished it turned out that one iPad had taken the waypoint and the second one had not. There is still some discussion about whether we will receive a fifteen-minute penalty for missing this waypoint. Anyway, we captured the waypoint as you can see on the second iPad. There is still discussion going on about this issue. We will hear the verdict by the organization later today or maybe tomorrow. For me it feels like I won big today, so I’m happy with it.” To be continued.

Due to the many stones, today was extremely tough for all participants. Even before the first neutralization, there were already many crews that had run out of spare tires. This was not the case with Van Kasteren, Snijders and Rodewald. “No tires punctured. Lots of branches, stones, holes. For my feeling, what I can remember, the toughest stage I’ve ever driven.” said a satisfied Janus van Kasteren Jr.

The unfortunate DNF (did not finish) yesterday of Vick Versteijnen, Teun van Dal and André Van der Sande is somewhat mitigated by today’s performance. “It could have happened to me too, but I am sure that we will still experience many great rallies together. Forget it and move on!” were the comforting words of Janus to the unfortunate Vick. The laws of the Dakar are tough. That’s just how it is in the game between man, machine and the elements as Thierry Sabine once imagined it.

In the general classification, Janus van Kasteren on behalf of Boss Machinery Team De Rooy Iveco moved up into second place. With his trouble-free driving Iveco Powerstar, he has 12 minutes and 17 seconds to make up with Ales Loprais. Tomorrow a special with a length of 447 kilometers awaits them. Almost half of these kilometers will have sand tracks with no dunes. Thirteen percent of the stage will consist of paths with stones. Onwards to a new day with new opportunities!