![Iveco on the podium of 2017 Dakar Rally’s first stage](<img alt="" src="/PublishingImages/Dakar/2017/eventi-vittorie-podi/stage1_canvas.jpg" style="BORDER: 0px solid; "> "Iveco on the podium of 2017 Dakar Rally’s first stage")
Iveco on the podium of 2017 Dakar Rally’s first stage
In a short special of only 39 timed kilometres, Ton van Genugten’s Iveco Trakker managed to finish in second place.
In a short special of only 39 timed kilometres, Ton van Genugten’s Iveco Trakker managed to finish in second place, ahead of the Powerstars of Gerard de Rooy and Federico Villagra, the first trucks to make contact with the stage.
The 39th edition of Dakar Rally is underway. The participants started early in the morning in Asunción, Paraguay, and headed to Resistencia, in Argentina. The toughness of this stage was one of the main concerns for the drivers, despite being of only 39 kilometres of speed in Paraguayan soil.
Ton van Genugten was Iveco’s man of the day, finishing the stage only 13 seconds behind of Monday’s leader, Martin Kolomy with Tatra. The Dutchman, behind the wheel of the Iveco Trakker #507, took advantage of the leaders, who were opening the roads and Van Genugten’s speed was better to achieve good times at the end of the day,
Gerard de Rooy did exactly what he said before the start of the race and didn’t push to a 100%, as the stage was short, risky and with little chance of gaining big advantages.
“We deflected a tyre because we had a problem in a system, but this was after the special, during the liasion. We didn’t lose race time. In the stage we did a great job. We weren’t the fastest, but we focused in not losing too much time”, remarked Gerard de Rooy.
The Dakar winner in 2012 and 2016 closed the special in the 5th place, 42 seconds adrift, taking a second Iveco in the Top 5.
Federico Villagra, with the other Iveco Powerstar, managed to put himself inside the best 10 drivers of the day. The Argentine driver began the Dakar without taking many risks, finishing 9th, 1m26s behind de leader, with the goal of climbing the classification in the next days.
It was a hard stage between Asunción-Resistencia for Wuf van Ginkel with the Iveco Trakker #525. The Dutchman lose too much time on the road and ended 20 minutes behind, falling back past the 40th position. This will leave him starting in the back of the field tomorrow and would not be able to provide quick assistance to his Iveco teammates in case they need it.
On Tuesday, competitors will go from Resistencia to San Miguel de Tucumán, in the north of Argentina. It will be a long day, with 812 kilometres for Trucks, with 275 of them timed for the special stage.
For those who want to read more details about the team, vehicles and follow day by day activity, you can go to www.iveco.com/dakar.