Update: Africa Eco Race – Van Ginkel down after a day of bad luck
Wuf van Ginkel saw his chances of a good result fading on the second day of the Africa Eco Race. In the 443 kilometres long stage from Erfoud to Foum Zguid he ran into so much bad luck that he had to leave the race halfway through to reach the bivouac by road. A non-working tyre pressure system was the cause of the misery.
Because the system did not work well on one side of the Iveco, mechanic Bert van Donkelaar could not get the right pressure in the tyres. In the stage with dunes, sand, fast paths and riverbeds with stones, tyre pressure was crucial. The problem caused two tattered tyres and one that went down slowly. “We have changed the broken tyres and the one that ran empty we moved to the other side, where the tyre system still worked,” says Van Ginkel. “Unfortunately, that was not enough, because the wrong tyre pressure caused a steering ball to break, causing another two punctures. Then it was over. The steering axle did not want to go left anymore. I couldn’t continue without steering. Such a shame when a small problem has such big consequences. It went so well.” In total Van Ginkel and his crew had to change a wheel six times.
At Mhamid Van Ginkel was able to take the road to drive to the bivouac at Foum Zguid. Because he could not steer to the left, he had to take some turns in reverse. “Right in reverse is also left. It is just a bit more difficult.”
After arriving in the bivouac, Van Ginkel needed the time to process his disappointment. “This is a big downer. We are not here to drive via the road. We can forget about the classification now. The only thing we can still hope for is a few nice results day by day.”
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