Friday the 13th is both bad luck and joy
13.1.2023
Friday the 13th, bad luck for one, joy for the other. And this dreaded day also took its toll on the 12th stage of the Dakar Rally. Pascal de Baar did not have time to start the Friday stage, on the contrary, his teammate Adwin Hoondert made his way into the elite ten for the first time in the demanding sandy stage.
"We went to our knees in the morning. Pascal, who was not missing from the podium in the last two stages, detected an overpressure in the cooling system. This usually indicates a head leak, which in the given conditions, when the crews were in the marathon section and could not use the help of technicians and assistance, would mean the end of the race. With some good analysis, the guys found out that the reason was the compressor head gasket, which needed to be replaced. Thanks to that, the crew arrived late to the start and could not start today's stage," racing truck designer Mario Kress from MKR Technology was the disappointed.
Pascal de Baar arrived at the start "only" 9 minutes later. Nine minutes, which meant that the pilot and his crew from the Riwald Dakar team could not fight for another podium, so he headed straight to the bivouac. But the joy was brought by the fast assistance with Adwin Hoondert, who, on the other hand, managed the difficult marathon stage in the ninth fastest time and for the first time ever, despite the limitations of the assistance truck, got into the elite ten. The twelfth stage, which took the participants from the Empty Quarter desert back to the bivouac in Shaybah, with a timed section of 185 kilometers, was won by Janus van Kasteren, who only fortified his leading position. Adwin Hoondert is twelfth in the general ranking.
The last two stages await the participants of this year's 45th edition of the legendary long-distance competition this weekend. On Saturday, the 13th's stage will lead them out of the Empty Quarter desert for good. The penultimate course to the bivouac in Al-Hofuf will be almost seven hundred kilometers long, but with one hundred and fifty kilometers of timed section dune fields can still shuffle the ranking. "Both guys are showing what they can do in the dunes, so we still have two chances to fight for the stage podium," winked Mario Kress.
