A total of 438 kilometres were programmed in two different sections between Tupiza and Oruro. But heavy rain and hail led to the decision of stopping the race at the end of the first part of the special.
Gerard de Rooy, thanks to a faultless driving and a great performance of his Iveco Powerstar, managed to secure a very important win, with the race coming close to the midpoint. The Dutchman led from the start and remained in front of the Trucks category to close the day with a time of 2h39m12s, almost twelve minutes faster than Eduard Nikolaev with a Kamaz.
"In the first 100 kilometres we went through the mountains. It was very hard. At the beginning it was a bit dry, but then it started to rain. We had good grip and managed to get through perfectly in the navigation, while rivals got lost," stated Gerard de Rooy, who reached his 32nd stage win in Dakar Rallies.
With two consecutive wins, the Petronas Team De Rooy Iveco leader reached the top of the overall classification for the first time in 2017, despite losing half an hour two days ago due to tyre problems.
Ton van Genugten had trouble in the first part of the stage, as he got stuck in the mud due to the heavy rain. The Iveco Trakker #507 lost almost four hours to his teammate De Rooy, and his chances of getting in the Top 10 are now diminished, although there is more than half of the race ahead.
Wuf van Ginkel and his crew got lost in different parts of the special and helped his teammate Van Genugten, which made them lose a lot of time. They finished 3h57m26s behind the leader.
Van Ginkel and Van Genugten also received an additional two-hour penalty at the end of the stage.
Not the best day in the office for Federico Villagra, who was second overall yesterday. With another Iveco Powerstar, the Argentine lost 46m50s to De Rooy and fell back to sixth.
Stage 6 of 2017 Dakar Rally will link Oruro and La Paz, being the longest special of the race with 513 timed kilometres covering 4,400 metres above sea level in the middle of the stage.
Stage 5 Results – Dakar 2017
1. Gerard de Rooy (IVECO) 2h39m12s
2. Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz) + 11m58s
3. Airat Mardeev (Kamaz) + 14m04s
4. Martin Macik (Liaz) + 16m15s
5. Siarhei Viazovich (Maz) + 17m43s
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16. Federico Villagra (IVECO) + 46m50s
36. Ton van Genugten (IVECO) + 5h48m09s
39. Wuf van Ginkel (IVECO) + 5h57m26s
Overall Classification – Dakar 2017
1. Gerard de Rooy (IVECO) 14h06m07s
2. Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz) + 2m23s
3. Dmitry Sotnikov (Kamaz) + 6m36s
4. Airat Mardeev (Kamaz) + 16m32s
5. Pascal de Baar (Renault Trucks) + 32m25s
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6. Federico Villagra (IVECO) + 34m30s
23. Ton van Genugten (IVECO) + 6h07m03s
25. Wuf van Ginkel (IVECO) + 7h04m34s
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.
