Rain shortened the third fast stage

5.1.2022

The North Bohemian truck from MKR Technology closed the top 10 during Tuesday's 3rd stage. While pilot Pascal de Baar finished his truck on tenth position in the shortened fast stage, his partner Gert Huzink was three places down in the ranking.

"Today was it was really fast, but quite short stage. In many passages, racers literally rode flat out. The current starting field in the top twenty is very experienced and very deep, so it comes down to details," said Mario Kress, head of the design team at MKR Technology.

The third stage was shortened due to heavy rain, which flooded part of the Al Artawiyah region. The race took place on a loop around Al Qaysumah, but the stage started at the place of the last day’s CP1 waypoint, which shortened the measured section by about one hundred kilometers. The track was covered with heavy wet sand, but there were also long dunes through which the competitors had to break through. "Everyone can ride flat out, so you can make some time only in the dunes, but this time we made a few small mistakes and lost a few minutes," Gert Huzink was not satisfied with his result. On the contrary, his partner was very happy. "We had a great ride. Compared to the previous stage, in which I suffered like an animal, today the suspension was great and after fine-tuning the tire pressure we were able to drive one hundred and ten percent, "smiled the tenth Pascal de Baar.

The stage was won by Russian Sotnikov, who only extended his overall lead. Both North Bohemian Renaults remain in the same positions in leaderboard - de Baar is tenth, Huzink twenty-first.

During Wednesday's 4th stage, Dakar heads south to the capital city of Riyadh, where the teams will spend several days. But the longest special section of this year is ahead of them and it has over four hundred and sixty kilometers. In total, the crews will have to cover over seven hundred kilometers. The program will include treacherous dunes and a rocky finish.