Stage 6 Ha’il – Riyadh

Todays stage has a 358km special and then liaison to the next bivuaque in Riyadh.

Stage info

Liaison > 560 km – Special > 358 km

Stage 6 Ha’il – Riyadh

Official press release A.S.O.

‼️⚠️ STAGES 7 AND 8 IN MARATHON MODE ⚠️‼️

With the weather conditions preventing the installation of the bivouac at Al Duwadimi in complete operating conditions for the entire caravan, stages 7 and 8 have been rearranged in marathon mode in order to propose an equivalent sporting programme that is relevant for the competitors. Based on the initial route, the specials for stages 7 and 8 have been exchanged, with shortened distances making it possible to have a manageable link route on each of the days.

For stage 7, which will take place on Saturday 7th January (Riyadh > Al Duwadimi), the special will take place over 333 kilometres. Since the competitors were not expecting a genuine marathon stage at this point in the race, an assistance zone will be set up after the finishing line of the special (via a 94-km link route), for a maximum time slot of two hours. The riders, drivers and crews will then head towards Al Duwadimi (via a 240-link route) where their vehicles will be parked in a secure enclosure.

Stage 8, on Sunday 8th January, will take the return journey to Riyadh, with the loop initially planned for stage 7 on the programme, but shortened by 128 kilometres. The race against the clock will therefore take place over 345 kilometres and then the competitors will head to the bivouac in Riyadh.

The rest day will take place at the site in Riyadh on Monday 9th January and the Dakar will then resume its initially planned schedule… in the sunshine!

Press release

Mitchel van den Brink writes history

The young Dutch pilot from the Harskamp (NL) gives Eurol Team De Rooy Iveco the victory

RIYADH – This afternoon, Mitchel van den Brink has re-written the history books of the Dakar Rally. The 20-year-old Harskamper is the youngest participant ever to win a stage in the trucks category.

Martin van den Brink completed the Harskamp party by taking the lead in the general classification via fourth place. The difference with Ales Loprais is minimal (37 seconds). However, Eurol Team De Rooy Iveco enjoyed it to the full.

“We had a super nice day,” said Mitchel, who started the stage fourth with Moi Torrallardona and Jarno van de Pol. “We had a strong opening and overtook Janus, who had started a minute earlier. We were fighting each other for 100 kilometers in the desert. That was very cool. The helicopter flew overhead to film the battle. Really super fun,” said the youngest stage winner in Dakar history.

‘Overtaking Loprais together’

“The both of us also overtook Loprais. At one point I drove a little too close behind Janus in order to climb a dune properly. We lost some time there.”

The talented driver from Harskamp then changed strategy. “We went out of the track of Janus. But we didn’t see the big hole that was on this “new” track. We dived into this hole full throttle. We went out of our truck to check our truck but luckily only the bumper was bent.”

At the end of this desert race, which lasted 3 hours and 47 minutes, Mitchel was 35 seconds ahead of Janus van Kasteren. The Czech Macik was third at 2m30s and Martin lost 10.41 to his son. Loprais lost more than 16 minutes and consequently lost the overall lead to Martin. Mitchel and his men are now fifth. “I am really happy with this result. We hope that we can repeat all this again tomorrow.”

‘Like Swiss clockwork’

With the regularity of a Swiss watch, Eurol Team De Rooy Iveco is gathering top rankings in this Dakar event. The consistent performance has given the experienced Martin van den Brink the lead in the general ranking of the toughest rally in the world. “What a beautiful day,” said a smiling Brink senior just after the shortened stage. The special stage of the sixth race day was reduced from the original 467 kilometers to 358 km. The finish was not in Al Dawa Dumi, but in Riyadh. The bivouac in Al Dawa Dumi was impassable due to the heavy rainfall.

“It was another beautiful stage with dunes and more dunes. We have mainly driven using common sense and I am very satisfied with this result. Mitchel and Janus overtook us. We decided to let them go. Let the youth fight. The ‘old guy’ is taking it easy.”

That turned out to be the right choice. “We saw Loprais standing still and knew we were going to gain time. Saving time was the main objective. We are now first overall and Mitchel takes the stage win. The Brink camp is completely satisfied. What a beautiful day. Hopefully we can continue this,” said Martin, who, for the very first time in his fifteenth Dakar Rally, personally writes history by ending the first week as classification leader.

Boss Machinery Team De Rooy Iveco is doing very well today.

Due to the heavy rain earlier this week, the organization of the rally had to adjust the planning. The bivouac in Al Duwadimi turned out to be inaccessible and the Dakar caravan therefore continued to Riyadh. The sixth stage was shortened by 100 kilometers, so that the special stage was now 357 kilometers long.

However, the day started with a liaison of 265 kilometers. Then the participants would start a special full of sand and dunes. The first part of the special stage was on tracks where the speed was high. Then came the dunes in which a lot of time could be lost, but the field remained relatively close together in terms of time. The end of the stage was on fast gravel tracks.

Janus van Kasteren jr., Marcel Snijders and Darek Rodewald in the Iveco Powerstar started third in today’s special stage at seven minutes past eleven (local time). With yesterday’s good result in mind, Boss machinery Team De Rooy Iveco immediately attacked. The other pilots from Team De Rooy also started either in front or just behind the truck with starting number 502.

With the three De Rooy Iveco Powerstars together, they put a lot of pressure on classification leader Loprais. Navigator Marcel Snijders says that in the beginning they stayed close to their colleague in Team De Rooy, pilot Martin van den Brink. “Then Mitchel passed us and we decided to stay with him.” said Snijders. The three of us then overtook classification leader Loprais.

The Czech got stuck in the dunes just before WP4 and lost half an hour there. The three musketeers of Team De Rooy now knew that they could recover quite some time and went for it to the maximum until the neutralization. On the live tracking several battles could be followed. Janus was battling with Mitchel in the front of the field. Shortly thereafter Martin van de Brink had a fight with the Czech Martin Macik and behind them, Ales Loprais fought with Pascal De Baar for his lead in the general standings. In short, it was an exciting battle in the Saudi dunes.

Van Kasteren jr. spoke enthusiastically about racing with Mitchel van den Brink and the course of the race. “Very nice day. Drove a lot with Mitchel. Really raced one another. Was really nice. We passed Loprais. I didn’t see that he got stuck, but as a result, he lost a lot of time. Super happy with it. We also made up some time on Martin (van den Brink – Ed.). So, I am really satisfied. We were at the last stop, with fifty kilometers to go, still three and a half minutes ahead.

But we really had to take it easy because we had one leaf spring broken on the rear axle. If also the other one breaks, then the axle will most probably “stay behind in the dunes”. 35 seconds behind the number one, isn’t bad. Happy with today’s result.” said Janus. He also spoke nice words about Mitchel van den Brink, who writes history as the youngest stage winner ever in the Dakar rally: “Very well done of Mitchel and I am proud of him.”

All in all, a fantastic day for Team De Rooy, which also has the new classification leader Martin van den Brink. Janus and his crew from Boss Machinery Team De Rooy Iveco have moved up to third place due to today’s good result, just 26:30 minutes from first place. The bad luck devil from earlier this week seems to be defeated and the battle is still wide open. Stage 7 and 8 will be adapted and will now be classified as a marathon stage.

That means tomorrow night a bivouac without service teams but this evening a lot of work to be done for the mechanics. The excitement is growing amongst the pilots. What will tomorrow bring? Who knows! In any case, this day ended very positively for Team De Rooy.

Results

Stage 6 is finished for our drivers

Stage timing

Stage Rank	Number	Driver	Rally stage time	Time gap to first
1	506	Martin van den Brink	3h46m58s	–
2	502	Janus van Kasteren	3h47m33s	+35s
4	511	Mitchel van den Brink	3h57m39s	+10m41s

Overall rally competition Trucks

After rally stage 6

Overall Rank	Number	Driver	Rally overall time	Gap to first	Penalty
1	506	Martin van den Brink	28h43m27s	–	–
3	502	Janus van Kasteren	29h09m57s	+26m30s	15m
6	511	Mitchel van den Brink	30h35m28s	+1h52m01s
X	504	Vick Versteijnen	dnf	dnf