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Erik Wevers Finds His Way Up Despite Rough Landing
It has been an adventurous second day of the Dakar Rally for Erik Wevers and Fabian Luquin. When descending a dune they landed their HRX Ford on the hood of a organisers vehicle. Despite this unusual encounter the Riwald Dakar duo finished in 16th place after 242 kilometers of sand and dunes. It means that they climbed from 21 to 16th spot in the general standings.
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Erik Wevers predicted it already yesterday: today would be the start of the real Dakar. The sand dunes and route around Pisco proved tricky. Validating one of the waypoints caused some delay. Also choosing the wrong route gave some 15 minutes delay.
After being on the right track again things got worse for the Riwald duo shortly after. When descending a large dune the HRX Ford landed on the hood of a organisers vehicle who was parked totally invisible. With a thousand apologies and a dented bonnet the ASO-employee managed to move his car away underneath the HRX Ford.
The Dutch rallycar proved unhurt, so were Erik and Fabian. It meant they could go and recover some lost time. Eventually the fastest team of the Riwald Dakar Team managed to finish in a very acceptable sixteenth place. In the overall rankings car number 325 is also in sixteenth place. Stéphane Peterhansel (Mini) leads the Dakar.
Gert Huzink also had his first serious encounter with the dunes of Peru. Even before CP1 the Dutch driver got seriously stuck with his HRX Ford. Only a number of hours later and with help from other Dakarists they could move on. Gert and co-driver Eugenie Decré managed to regain their rhythm quickly and arrived at the finish in 81th position.
Riwald Dakar quotes:
Erik Wevers/Fabian Lurquin (car number 325)
"We still managed to finish in 16th place after this crazy adventure. It says it all about the potential of our car in comparison to the Mini's and Toyota's. I ‘am disappointed about the lost time and don’t want to think about in which position we could have ended today."
PaddockTalk Perspective
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Also in WRC Rally News 2010: |
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