For Vick Versteijnen, the Dakar Rally has turned into a drama. The Team De Rooy driver will no longer start in the second stage. He explains what went wrong during the first leg.
“We were driving in the dunes and suddenly the engine cut out”, Versteijnen begins his reconstruction. “We were able to restart it again, but that took a long time. It normally runs well after that, but that was not the case now. So we went to see it anyway.”
“In this sport, everything can usually be fixed, except the engine.”
They discovered no crazy things with the engine and decided to continue driving. “It was either drive on or be towed. We continued driving but three kilometers before the finish it was puff and done.”
It soon became clear to the driver from Hilvarenbeek that his Dakar Rally was over. “I knew it was done. I’m not very technical, but if something rattles at the bottom of the can, it’s not good news. In this sport, everything can usually be fixed, except the engine. So bad luck.”
“I couldn’t have imagined something so unexpected.”
The reaction in the cabin was defeated, according to Versteijnen. “At one point it became quiet for a while. We felt defeated. You then wonder how this is possible. I could not have imagined such an unforeseen thing.”
In his first reaction, he mainly looks at the team. “I find it especially sour for the team and the mechanics. They have been working on it day and night. Everything was new. This is really a shame.”
Tonight in the third episode of Bivak Brabant Dakar you can see the full reaction of Vick Versteijnen. This episode can be seen from 20:00 on the website and Youtube of Omroep Brabant.
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