RALLY DAKAR 2023

VAN DE LAAR RESUMES IN STAGE 4

Trucks: In the third stage of the 2023 Dakar Rally, Fried van de Laar Racing lost almost an hour and a half, but Jan and Ben van de Laar and mechanic Dolf Huijgens(image above) returned to the track in the fourth stage. They crossed the finish line in ninth place after 425 kilometers of sand and dunes.

This ground is what they came for. “It was a super cool special,” said Jan van de Laar. “We had a very pleasant day.” The sand has become heavy and hard from yesterday's rain. Not everyone came across the dunes at once. But that wouldn't have been a problem for Van de Laar. “The dunes were very beautiful, with fun navigation maneuvers. We have enjoyed it.”

The Iveco resisted perfectly all day. The mechanics were busy all night to renew everything and thus avoid new problems. “The men saw the light come,” said Jan van de Laar. "Congratulations on the work you did, because the truck didn't make any noise and we didn't get out once."

You can't make up for an hour and a half, but not making new mistakes and participating in the vanguard every day allows you to catch up. “We had to start from the back, but we managed to move forward quite easily. Most everyone quickly moved aside to let us through. Coming in every day is a prerequisite, but if we could nibble on the backlog a little bit every day, that would be nice. Others also experience things. And we still have some time.

The fifth stage is also a lot of sand and dunes and complicated navigation. The 374 kilometer stage is again near Ha'il, this time on the north side.

Bikes: Quintanilla is second in the fourth stage

After a lot of stone, it's time to explore the typical desert landscapes at the 2023 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. On a route that starts and ends at the camp in Ha’il, the fourth stage of the race was made up of 425 kilometers of specials (timed sections), in addition to 152 km of displacements, this Wednesday (4/1). The pilots went through true mountains of sand and followed trails on sandy ground, quite humid due to the rains of the last few days, with great demands on navigation.

The Monster Energy Honda team had a positive day, firstly because rider Ricky Brabec, who suffered a crash the day before and was under observation in hospital, was released by the medical team. In the test, the day also yielded. Chilean Pablo Quintanilla was the second fastest on the stage, just 16 seconds behind Spaniard Joan Barreda – who also rides a Honda CRF 450 Rally motorcycle.

Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren was fifth of the day, two minutes and 37 seconds after Barreda.

Honoring the true spirit of the Dakar, José Ignacio “Nacho” Cornejo(image above) stopped to help the Portuguese Joaquim Rodrigues, who suffered a fall. Due to the noble gesture, he lost seven minutes and 35 seconds – time that was discounted later in his classification. In this way, the Chilean reached ninth place in the stage. In the overall bike rankings, Quintanilla is in seventh place, Van Beveren in eighth and Nacho in 12th.

This Thursday (5/1), the fifth stage of the 2023 Dakar Rally starts and ends again at the Ha’il camp. The special will have 374 km plus a displacement of 275 km, totaling 649 km of route. The itinerary will bring dunes of different sizes and the challenge will be to master the soft sand without wasting time.

UTV's: Guthrie wins yet another in the light UTVs. Luppi becomes leader in UTVs

Mitchell Guthrie and Kellon Walch won the fourth special stage of the light UTVs of the Dakar Rally, disputed this Wednesday morning (4th) in the city of Ha'il, Saudi Arabia. The Americans achieved their second victory in the current edition of the most important off-road competition on the planet by covering the 425 kilometers timed in 5h01min55s.

The second position went to the Portuguese João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro, who finished the special with a time 5min49s above that obtained by Guthrie and Walch. Guillaume de Mevius and François Cazalet took third place, followed by defending champions Austin Jones and Gustavo Gugelmin. Santiago Navarro and Adrien Metgé completed the top-5 of the day. Ebenhaezer Basson and Bertus Leander Pienaar took sixth place for the day, followed by Aliyyah Koloc and Stéphane Duplé, seventh best. Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno Huete closed the day with the eighth position, just ahead of Geoff Minnitt and Gerhard Snyman, ninth best of the day. Ahmed Alkuari Fahad and Manuel Lucchese took tenth place.

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