Stage 7 Riyadh > Al Duwadimi
Todays stage has a 333km special and then liaison back to the bivuaque in Riyadh.
Stage info
Liaison > 528 km – Special > 333 km
Press release
Janus van Kasteren jr. finally takes his first day victory!
He had his share of bad luck, came close a few times and it was in the stars the last few days: The first day victory for Boss Machinery Team De Rooy Iveco pilot Janus van Kasteren jr. For the third day in a row, the pilot from Veldhoven (the Netherlands) and teammate pilot Mitchel van den Brink set the pace at the front of the field. Yesterday Janus still had to leave the victory to Mitchel, but today it was his turn to win his first day victory ever.
The seventh stage took the pilots via a liaison of no less than 288 kilometers to the start of the special stage. Over a distance of 333 kilometers, they were fighting for every meter purely on speed. Just like the last two days, the terrain allowed high speed racing. The result: close racing. If you are held-up somewhere due to a flat tire, technical failure or a crash; then it is difficult or impossible to make up for lost time. Staying out of trouble is therefore very important in this kind of high-speed specials. Especially today, because of the weather, this stage has been declared a marathon stage. This means that only limited service is possible between today’s stage and tomorrow’s stage.
Just before 11 am, team number 502 started the special stage with the Iveco Powerstar. After a first stretch of a track with rocks through a canyon, there was a stretch of dunes. Janus van Kasteren jr., Marcel Snijders and Darek Rodewald kept a solid pace. Janus: “We flew through those dunes. We had already overtaken Mitchel before entering the dunes. At one point I saw Martin Macik in my mirrors, but we haven’t seen him since.”
At CP1 the men of Boss Machinery Team De Rooy Iveco had a lead of five and six minutes respectively on his colleagues Mitchel and Martin van den Brink. The second part of the special stage involved winding gravel paths. “We just cut corners where possible. We couldn’t increase our lead anymore, because the others just followed our tracks. “Creating” those tracks takes time, but I am glad we came in first today.
And we are getting closer to the overall first position.” says Van Kasteren. Ales Loprais, who started later, finished second at 3:42 minutes. Martin van den Brink finished third with a gap of 6:19 minutes behind. Mitchel van den Brink had to take a one-minute penalty and ended up in fourth place, 6:44 behind the glorious winner Janus van Kasteren.
His Iveco Powerstar came out of the special stage with little damage. Because a number of trees had to be pushed aside along the way, a windscreen was broken, but otherwise nothing worth mentioning. After the finish, the service teams had a time slot of two hours to look after the trucks. Team De Rooy’s mechanics had built their own pit lane and the windshield was replaced and the necessary maintenance was carried out in no time.
Within an hour the truck of Janus, Marcel and Darek was ready for the 240 kilometers liaison to the bivouac in Al Duwadimi. The service teams will drive to another bivouac and will not be reunited with the rally trucks and crew until tomorrow. Boss Machinery Team De Rooy Iveco is very happy with the victory today but their goal remains to win this Dakar 2023. On the menu is part two of the marathon stage with a special stage of 346 kilometers with an appetite for another victory!
“We certainly did not demolish the truck”
Pilots from Eurol Team De Rooy Iveco don’t take any risks.
Al Duwadimi – After the joyful Friday for Eurol Team De Rooy Iveco also today was a day to be proud of. Martin and Mitchel van den Brink didn’t take any risks, looked after their trucks and finished third and fourth respectively.
The seventh stage has become a kind of marathon stage. Today, limited service is allowed and tomorrow the circus will return to Riyadh. Monday is the so-called rest-day.
Teammate Janus van Kasteren won the stage over 333 kilometers from Riyadh to Al Duwadimi. Ales Loprais was second at 3m42S. The third place was initially for the surprisingly fast Jaroslav Valtr (at 4.51). Mitchel was classified fourth at 5.44 and 35 seconds behind him finished Martin in fifth position. Afterwards both Mitchel (1 minute) and Valtr (2 minutes) got a time penalty and that changed the result of the stage.
Time penalty
After Mitchel’s sensational triumph in the sixth stage and the overall lead for father Martin, a small disappointment followed later on Friday evening. Martin van den Brink was given a time penalty of 1 minute. The 37 seconds lead changed into the second position with a 23 seconds’ gap. Martin didn’t understand what had caused this time penalty and the team filed a protest to the organization. “According to race management, we did not reach the top of a dune. However, our GPS did register “the top” but upon arrival this part of the registration was missing in our GPS. Navigator Erik Kofman was asked to give his view and opinion on this strange situation. A final decision usually takes a few days but the answer came faster than expected. This afternoon, organizer A.S.O. announced that the 1 -minute time penalty has been canceled.
Richard was able to keep sufficient air-pressure in the tire.
Martin van den Brink, Erik Kofman and Richard Mouw did not care much about the verdict this morning. The small gap with leader Loprais still offers plenty of perspective for the coming week. “Today, we couldn’t reach the top of a dune twice. We lost a few minutes there, that is a pity. We also had a flat tire. I had to drive the last part carefully. Fortunately, Richard was able to keep sufficient air-pressure in the tire. We didn’t have to change the tire during the special. This we did after the finish. “
After the finish, Martin handed over his Iveco Powerstar to the service crew of Team De Rooy. “They are allowed to work on the truck for a maximum of two hours. Then the truck has to go to the Parc fermé. We get a tent and after dinner we go to sleep and prepare for the day of tomorrow. “
Today, Martin made a conscious choice for a conservative tactic. “There are a few small things, but we didn’t hurt the truck. We have driven fast, but certainly not to the maximum. Sometimes choices have to be made. Today we chose to go easy on the truck where possible. Tomorrow there will be another important stage. There are still plenty of opportunities. “
After the seventh stage, the team of Van den Brink Senior is second overall in this Monster rally in the Middle East. The backlog on leader Ales Loprais is two minutes. The organization cancelled the 1 -minute time penalty this afternoon.
The third place is for Janus van Kasteren of Boss Machinery Team De Rooy Iveco. He is 22 minutes and 11 seconds behind the Czech in the Praga. Martin Macik is fourth at 42.24 and Jaroslav Valtr is fifth (at 1h52m19s) one place ahead Mitchel van den Brink. (1.54.26).
Mitchel also got out the Iveco Powerstar satisfied. The young driver of Eurol Team De Rooy Iveco has stayed calm and relaxed after all the euphoria around his first stage victory and still has plenty of opportunities for a high final ranking. “We were the first to start this morning. After 100 kilometers Janus and Macik, who were having a fight, overtook us. I stayed with them but when they crossed a dune, I had to make a detour and lost the connection. For the rest, I had no issues at all” said the driver, who was being navigated by the experienced Spaniard Moi Torrallardona (56) and the 23-year-old mechanic Jarno van de Pol.
“We’re going to replace the drive shaft”
In view of the limited-service time and just like father Martin, Mitchel also decided not to ask too much from the Iveco Powerstar. “We certainly did not demolish our truck. Just after the finish, a check showed that there was a crack in the drive shaft from the gearbox to the transfer case. We will replace that drive shaft in the two hours that the engineers are allowed to work on the truck. We will continue tomorrow with confidence, “said the 20-year-old rally driver from Harskamp.
Results
What a wonderfull day!
Stage timing
| Stage Rank | Number | Driver | Rally stage time | Time gap to first |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 502 | Janus van Kasteren | 3h35m10s | – |
| 3 | 511 | Mitchel van den Brink | 3h40m54s | +5m44s |
| 4 | 506 | Martin van den Brink | 3h41m29s | +6m19s |
Overall rally competition Trucks
After rally stage 7
| Overall Rank | Number | Driver | Rally overall time | Gap to first | Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 508 | Loprais | 32h22m56s | – | – |
| 2 | 506 | Martin van den Brink | 32h24m56s | +2m00s | |
| 3 | 502 | Janus van Kasteren | 32h45m07s | +22m11s | +15m00s |
| 6 | 511 | Mitchel van den Brink | 34h17m22s | +1h54m26s | +1m00s |
| X | 504 | Vick Versteijnen | dnf | dnf |
Videos
Video by Rallymaniacs
Video by Omroep Brabant
Video by A.S.O.
Photos
Photos from photographers Rallymaniacs, MMPhoto, Fotop and Ronald Loedeman 😎
