Stage 5 Al Ula – Ha’il

The competitors will be thrown in at the deep end, with super-fast tracks from the get-go. However, the pace will come down, as is only natural, once the race hits sandy ground.

← Stage 4

Restday →

ℹ️ Route info ℹ️

Next, the mosaic of landscapes in this stage will take the field to stony terrain on the outskirts of Hail. For many, simply making it to the rest day of the Dakar is a victory in itself. It will be a well-deserved success for those who manage to reach this hallowed site of Saudi rally-raids in decent(-ish) shape.

Liaison

64 km

Special Stage

428 km

📝 Team de Rooy FPT Licks Its Wounds After Tough Dakar Rally Marathon Stage, Van Loon Upholds Honor with Fourth Place 📝

HAIL – Another day of mixed feelings for Team de Rooy FPT in the Dakar Rally. Anja van Loon performed well among the trucks with her fourth place in the second part of the marathon stage, but Aleš Loprais lost time again and finished 11th. Vaidotas Žala also had a hard time on Thursday. He finished 20th in the fifth stage.

613 Fried van de Laar Racing Team de Rooy FPT

“Anja did a great job with her brothers Jan and Ben, and we are thrilled as Team de Rooy FPT”, said team manager Henk van Leuven. “Loprais had a very tough day. Three leaf springs broke. It was just the conditions of the special that caused this. For some, it is worse; for others, it is better. And Žala had some punctures and a broken leaf spring. Shit happens.”

Bad Luck Factor

There was little Van Leuven and his team could do but accept the result. “With one person, the bad luck factor is a bit higher than with the other, and that can be different tomorrow.” Team de Rooy FPT also had something to celebrate with Van Loon’s fourth place.

Anja van Loon

Ben van de Laar

Jan van de Laar

This was primarily due to her and her brothers’ tactics on the trickier-than-expected stage from Alula to Hail. Van Leuven: “The route was challenging. The organization had announced in advance that the special would have a limited number of stones and rocks.”

605 Skuba Team de Rooy FPT

The Opposite

“In practice, it was the opposite: many more than yesterday. Anja, Jan, and Ben rode fast but conservative and risk-averse. And it paid off for them. After the setbacks with Loprais and Žala, we could use it.”

Vaidotas Žala

Paulo Fiuza

Max van Grol

601 Instatrade Loprais Team de Rooy FPT

Thursday’s damage dropped Loprais from second to third in the overall standings. The Czech did not want to give up.

Ales Loprais

David Křípal

Darek Rodewald

Van Leuven: “He said to me, ‘We’ll keep on fighting. We will keep going.’ He was in a good mood. Absolutely not down. He and his crew are going for it. As they should be.”