Dakar Rally 2020; Petronas Team De Rooy Iveco -Excellent start for Van Kasteren, bad luck for Versteijnen
The Dakar Rally 2020 started for Petronas Team De Rooy Iveco with varying success. Janus van Kasteren achieved an excellent third place in the first stage. Albert Llovera came in with the twelfth time. Vick Versteijnen and Michiel Becx, on the other hand, were delayed by more than an hour due to a broken steering arm at Versteijnen’s truck.
Van Kasteren got off to a good start with the Iveco Powerstar. With start number 505, he left as the sixth truck, to tap the third time after 319 km from Jeddah to Al Wajh, 3.09 behind the Kamaz of Shibalov and one and a half minutes behind the MAZ of Viazovich.
“The three of us are very happy with this third place,” said Van Kasteren immediately after the finish. “It went well. We have been in the dust of Macik’s Iveco for a long time. The speed difference was not big enough and so it was difficult to pass, but in the end we succeeded.”
Van Kasteren, navigator Marcel Snijders and mechanic Darek Rodewald spent a minute looking for a waypoint where more trucks and cars struggled. “We had to go back a mile and found it, so we were able to move on quickly. It was a nice stage and the truck worked perfectly, but there was a lot of dust, which sometimes made it difficult.”
Vick Versteijnen hit a big rock with his Powerstar and broke the steering arm. With the help of Michiel Becx’s quick assistance, this could be repaired again, but Versteijnen lost more than an hour with it. He crossed the finish line 1.27.46 behind in 21st position.
