Iveco Trucks are unstoppable even in the toughest conditions

Stage 5 between Copiapó and Antofagasta was completed on Chilean ground.

Today’s tracks left the pilots exhausted and, in addition to the problems encountered by Gerard de Rooy yesterday, the special stage was quite complicated for the Iveco trucks: starting off behind, in the middle of the convoy, made visibility difficult.​

The Dakar and its risky roads are relentless. After Gerard de Rooy’s mishap in yesterday’s stage and his arrival at the campsite past midnight, the Iveco trucks had to overcome yet another tough section.

There was plenty of dust, fesh-fesh and hard stones that rendered the pilots’ work difficult. Stage 5 covered a timed section of 458 km between the Chilean towns of Copiapó and Antofagasta, in the north of the country. Hans Stacey was Iveco’s best-positioned driver to start due to his good performance in the last stage. The Dutchman started 5th and had a good first half in the special stage.

Regardless of all the obstacles they had to overcome throughout the 458 km stage and endless slopes that took them from 1,000 up to 3,000 meters above sea level, again and again, De Rooy was Iveco’s best performer today, but the time lost due to the accident suffered yesterday puts him off the podium.

Hans Stacey arrived immediately after his countryman and he finished 7th in the general classification: climbing a few positions in the general classification gets him even closer to the Kamaz.

Pep Vila, the Catalonian pilot who gave full assistance to Gerard de Rooy in Stage 4, arrived 15th.