
Stage 9 Riyadh β Haradh π
The expedition through Saudi Arabia continues…
The road to Haradh will take the field due south on mostly fast tracks.
π Team de Rooy FPT again rock solid in the Dakar Rally; victory for Loprais in ninth stage! π
HARADH – Team de Rooy FPT had an excellent rhythm during the last three days. It was always among the first three trucks in the daily standings and AleΕ‘ Loprais even won two stages.
On Tuesday he was the best as well. On the stage from Riyadh to Haradh he gained time on Mitchel van den Brink in the fight for second place. Vaidotas Ε½ala finished third, just like on Monday, and Anja van Loon was 13th.
π 601 Instatrade Loprais Team de Rooy FPT π
βThe start of the selective section was extremely fast, always at maximum speed. And because the organizers let the trucks onto the track after thirty seconds, we were driving in the dust, which was very risky at such speedsβ, Loprais said.
Extremely rocky and dusty
Ales Loprais: βThe second part of the special stage was extremely rocky and dusty. David reacted perfectly in one place in the dust and thanks to that we managed to find the right exit from the canyon perfectly. Then we were flying to the finish line.”
“Overall it was challenging, but the crew was absolutely great. David shone today!β, the Czech praised his co-driver from InstaTrade Team de Rooy FPT.
605 Skuba Team de Rooy FPT
Ε½ala of Skuba Team de Rooy FPT was also fast on the stage from Riyadh to Haradh, showing consistent speed with second, third and third places in the last three stages.
613 Fried van de Laar Racing Team de Rooy FPT
Anja van Loon was also fast on Tuesday. The Fried van de Laar Racing Team de Rooy FPT driver was even in fourth place for a while.
However, an adventure in the wrong valley cost her so much time that she and her brothers Jan and Ben van de Laar dropped back to 13th place in the daily standings.
All possibilities
Lopraisβ stage win means that his closest rival, Mitchel van den Brink, is now less than five minutes behind. With three stages to go, he seems to have every chance of regaining second place. Martin MacΓk, the leader of the standings, is with an advantage of 2.5 hours too far ahead to be able to fight for the title.
π Stage 9 Results π
After 357 km of special stage today
Stage Rank | Number | Driver | Time | Gap to first |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 601 | Ales Loprais | 3h20m51s | – |
3 | 605 | Vaidotas Ε½ala | 3h26m33s | +5m42s |
13 | 613 | Anja van Loon | 4h04m38s | +43m47s |
Overall positions
After Stage 9
Rank | Number | Driver | Time | Gap to first | Penalty |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 600 | Martin Macik | 50h14m19s | – | +3m50s |
3 | 601 | Ales Loprais | 52h42m57s | +2h28m38s | – |
7 | 605 | Vaidotas Ε½ala | 57h08m25s | +6h54m06s | +2m10s |
9 | 613 | Anja van Loon | 60h50m42s | +10h36m23s | – |
π· Photos π·
Thanks to our photographers on site @Fotop @Rallymaniacs @MMProductions @Actiongraphers
π₯ Videos π₯
Jan & Ben van de Laar interview
Onboard Ales Loprias 601