Tenth Dakar stage shuffles the overall ranking, Huzink is 10th

17.1.2018

There is no easy stage on this year`s Dakar! The 10th race stage tested the technique and limits of human abilities. The teams talk about real purgatory; the ranking shuffles. While the pilot of north Bohemian MKR Technology truck, Gerd Huzink, entered the top ten, a lot of doubts is with pilot Janus van Kasteren due to his technical problems with transmission.

As if the organizers compete which stage is more extreme. The 10^th became a leader. The stage from Salta to Belén, where almost three hundred and eighty kilometers were timed, was exceptionally difficult. The teams experienced all kinds of routes – starting from sandy dunes, moving to riverbeds and damaged roads. From three thousand meters altitude they descended by more than two thousand meters. In the final part of the stage both north Bohemian Renault teams experienced problems. Gerd Huzink increased the time loss, on the thirteenth place he lost almost hour and a half to the Dutch winner van Genugten. “It was another extreme stage, the technique gets to the limits and capacities. Everyone suffers, no one can be sure about anything. Unfortunately, technical issues hindered also our Janus van Kasteren that has trouble with the transmission,” informed Mario Kress, leading designer of MKR Technology team.

Young Dutch pilot that has his premiere on this year`s Dakar, experiences it fully. Because of problems he had a loss of almost two hours on the second way point and the loss gradually increased. If he manages to get to the finish and start the next stage is currently unclear.   

Dakar continues with 11^th stage from Belén do Chilecito with a total length of almost seven hundred and fifty kilometers, from which two hundred and eighty are timed. The teams go through Fiambalá and even organizers talk about one of the toughest places of Argentina. The sand dunes and steep ascents await them and can significantly shuffle the overall ranking. Russian Nikolajev is still in the lead, but Villagra on the second place is less then twenty five minutes behind. Gerd Huzink with special trambus Renault Trucks K520 made it to the top ten of overall ranking.