A rested de Baar celebrates silver medal

10.1.2023

Pascal de Baar got it this year! With a truck from the workshop of the North Bohemian design team MKR Technology, he finished on the coveted podium in the 9th stage of the Dakar Rally. He narrowly missed the gold when he had to change a tire before the finish line, but even silver position after all the difficulties made the team very happy.

"This is a great start to the second half. Pascal did it perfectly. He was already running great before the day off, and now he finally made it. The second part of the Dakar will be very difficult, the next step will be the dunes, but Pascal feels great in them, so we believe that in the end he will also win the gold, which he missed today by just a little bit," the smile returned to the designer's face Mario Kress.

With the ninth stage, the entire competition turned into its second half. In the first one, bad luck literally stuck to the heels of the North Bohemian trucks. The day off, which came on Monday, was more than convenient for everyone, and it was evident in the results of the stage as well. Pascal de Baar's Renault from Chvalín only got better after the start. Tuesday's stage took the crew from the bivouac in Riyadh to Haradh. The demanding sandy stage had a total of almost seven hundred kilometers and the timed section was almost three hundred and sixty kilometers long. The Dutchman Janus van Kasteren, also a former pilot of Kress’ special truck, was the fastest in it. Right on his heels was de Baar, who had to change a tire at the very end. He crossed the finish line only three minutes behind the winning compatriot. "There was a huge problem at the 130th kilometer. Some trucks were literally stuck in mud up to their doors. I was happy doing enduro and motocross all year. That helped me get through the mud,” de Baar noted.

Adwin Hoondert got stuck in the dunes with a quick assist and is already continuing to the finish line and then to the bivouac.

Golden van Kasteren got to second position behind the leader Aleš Loprais in the general ranking of the truck category. Pascal de Baar jumped to sixteenth place.

Wednesday's 10th stage from Haradh to Sheybah, with its length of 114 kilometers, will be the shortest timed section of this year. According to the organizers, this is a starter of the subsequent three-day journey through the ocean of dunes in the Empty Quarter, i.e. the fourth largest sand desert in the world. The total distance that the crews will have to deal with in the 10th stage is over six hundred kilometers, but the final one-hundred-kilometer timed section will be just sand, sand and more sand.