Huzink was stopped by the front axle in the 2nd stage
16.10.2023
A damaged front axle eliminated the Dutch pilot Gert Huzink from fight for the overall result in this year's Rally Morocco. At the same time, his Renault was among the fastest in the 2nd stage. The North Bohemian MKR Technology team wants to get Rivald Dakar team rider back into the race, but the situation is complicated by the sandy terrain.
"We ended the stage early because of a broken right joint on the front axle. We'll do our best so that it's not the end of the competition, but it's very difficult to get to the truck at all," commented the main designer of the racing special Mario Kress.
From the very beginning of the race, bad luck was chasing Huzink. In the first two stages, the crew was searching for waypoints. Huzink was additionally given an hour penalty for not passing one in the previous 1st stage. In the end, all the other crews in the result list, except for the three fastest ones, got the same penalty. At the same time, the Dutch pilot was extremely satisfied with the truck and, had it not been for the pitfalls on the course, he would still have moved with his time among the elite heading for the podium. But the stony route and hard bumps in the 2nd stage forced a technical stop, which eliminated Huzink from the chance to improve his silver all-time record in the Moroccan race.
The crew's third racing day on the other hand introduced most of the previous stages, so sand dunes were also on the menu, and it was in them that Huzink's damaged truck stopped and waited for the help of technicians, who had difficulties reaching it with heavy equipment. The Dutch rider Janus van Kasteren did the best in the 2nd stage, which was almost three hundred kilometers long.
Monday's 3rd stage starts and finishes in Zagora again. The crews will have to complete a loop of 444 km, including 336 km of timed sections. It is currently uncertain whether Huzink's truck will be able to be prepared for it.
