After gold de Baar gets the bronze

12.1.2023

Pascal de Baar is back on the podium. In the first part of the marathon's 11th stage, the racing truck pilot from Chvalín in North Bohemia finished only ten seconds behind the silver position and takes home bronze.

"Pascal continues on a wave of success and we really hope that it lasts until the end of the race. With the marathon part in mind, he tried to drive rather carefully to avoid possible damage to his truck. We are glad that it was successful - the car is without major scratches. At the same time, today was a very difficult stage with treacherous sand. Pascal got stuck four times due to the extremely soft sand, but otherwise everything worked well and we are happy that, despite all the extremes, he finished on third place," noted designer Mario Kress with satisfaction.

As a part of the 11th stage, the crews left the bivouac in Shaybah and headed for a route totaling over four hundred kilometers. The course took them into the fourth largest sand desert in the world, the Empty Quarter, where a grueling 274-kilometer timed section full of sand awaited them. Dutchman Martin van den Brink tackled the eleventh stage best. Compatriot Pascal de Baar crossed the finish line in the third time, only ten seconds behind the silver Martin Macík. Adwin Hoondert with quick assistance was classified as eleventh.

Janus van Kasteren is leading the general ranking of the 45th edition of the Dakar Rally in the truck competition. Adwin Hoondert is twelfth and Pascal de Baar fourteenth.

In this part of second marathon stage this year, the crews have to do without the help of their teams of technicians for two days and rely solely on themselves. Both Renault trucks from the MKR Technology workshop have successfully completed the crucial first part. The second part awaits them on Friday – the 12th stage will take the participants back to the bivouac in Shaybah. But first, the crews will have to master the ocean of dunes and a timed section 185 kilometers long. In total, they will drive less than four hundred kilometers.