The third stage of the 2017 Dakar Rally proved to be a great challenge in navigation for the crews of all categories. Although their route was shorter than the other classes', Trucks demonstrated their abilities in the ascent to San Salvador de Jujuy on tracks 4,000 metres above sea level.
The 199 kilometres of the stage were divided into two sections, where the difficult conditions of the dry riverbeds in the first portion and the great altitude of the second posed the greatest challenge.
Gerard de Rooy, PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO Team leader, had issues with his tyres. Already in the first part of the stage, three tyres deflated and he was unable to inflate them quickly due to a failure in the system. This cost the team more than half an hour and, when they arrived to the connecting section, they received two extra tyres from Wuf van Ginkel, who also provides direct assistance to his IVECO teammates.
"The system broke down. Because of that three tyres deflated," explained De Rooy. The team swapped two tyres with the spare wheels they had with them, but for the third one, "we had to stop six times to pump it manually. Van Ginkel gaves us two new tyres, so that we were able to continue safely in the second part, with new tyres in reserve." The 2016 champion team lost 34m16s, finishing 33m37s behind the leader, and in 18th position in the overall classification.
Ton van Genugten started the day by taking the lead in Waypoint 1 (WP1), but the Dutchman in the IVECO Trakker lost some time in the following points and was penalised with 20 minutes after the stage for having jumped one of the Waypoints. This meant that he lost the third place and fell back to 12th in the stage and in the overall classification. In spite of this, Van Genugten gave the best performance of the PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO team.
After assisting Gerard de Rooy, Wuf van Ginkel continued on his way to 10th place, but was also handed a penalty for the same reason as his teammate. In the end he was classified in 16th position and lost his Top 20 position in the combined times.
After the penalties and with another Iveco Powerstar, Federico Villagra sealed a neat stage to secure Van Genugten's third position, 4m33s behind the best time of the stage, securing the provisional third place in the overall classification as well.
The 2017 Dakar Rally will cross the border to Bolivia, where competitors will have to cope with the altitude, desert and big temperature variations. Thursday the vehicles will have a 416 kilometre drive at more than 3,000 metres above sea level to reach Tupiza.
Stage 3 Results – Dakar 2017
1. Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz) 2h45m51s
2. Martin Kolomy (Tatra) + 3m48s
3. Federico Villagra (IVECO) + 4m33s
4. Siarhei Viazovich (Maz) + 5m36s
5. Hans Stacey (MAN) + 11m38s
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12. Ton van Genugten (IVECO) + 21m01s
16. Wuf van Ginkel (IVECO) + 33m33s
18. Gerard de Rooy (IVECO) + 34m16s
Overall Classification – Dakar 2017
1. Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz) 5h57m56s
2. Martin Kolomy (Tatra) + 2m27s
3. Federico Villagra (IVECO) + 4m07s
4. Siarhei Viazovich (Maz) + 5m40s
5. Peter Versluis (MAN) + 11m20s
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12. Ton van Genugten (IVECO) + 32m18s
13. Gerard de Rooy (IVECO) + 33m04s
22. Wuf van Ginkel (IVECO) + 1h14m40s
Follow all the news at www.iveco.com/dakar
IVECO will keep its fans up to date throughout the rally on www.iveco.com/dakar, following the race step by step with daily updates from South America. The website narrates a journey through the world's most difficult and demanding off-road race. The website, published in English and Spanish, will be updated every day with Team PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO's results and performance data, plus multimedia content transmitted directly from the course itself. Likewise, the IVECO's social media channels will be updated every day, with all the latest news as well as reports, videos and photos.
