Van Merksteijn Motorsport Press Release Dakar Day 2: Time loss for both Dutch BMW drivers

During the second leg of the Dakar Rally from Santa Rosa to Puerto Madryn, both Peter van Merksteijn and René Kuipers driving a BMW X3CC lost valuable time but managed to keep the damage within limits. A tough special stage of 237km was followed by a long and boring 600km liaison after which both Dutch X-Raid drivers are still the leaders of the Dutch contestants. 

Peter van Merksteijn and Eddy Chevaillier drove carefully today during the 237km long special stage. Because of the very fine dust it was very difficult to see where you had to go. During the first part of the stage Peter, driving with number 318, missed a navigation point and had to turn the car around to prevent a time penalty of 60 minutes. “Searching for the waypoint has cost us 10 about minutes. It’s a pity but it’s still better than a penalty of one hour” said Peter van Merksteijn.

At the end of the special stage which began just outside of Santa Rosa, the time lost compared to stage winner Carlos Sainz was 17 minutes and 6 seconds, including the lost 10 minutes. “We clocked now a 19^th time, otherwise we would have been in the top ten again” told co-driver Eddy Chevaillier afterwards in the bivouac. “We took it easy today and didn’t take risks but we can go a lot faster” 

René Kuipers had a difficult day. In the beginning of the stage René could keep up the pace and drove several times equal times as Peter van Merksteijn around position 15. “We had a lot of trouble with the dust. Everything you can imagine was combined in 1 special stage. Unbelievable!”

“At one point we got a puncture at the right rear and we had to stop to change the wheel. Because of the lost time we were once again in the middle of the dust and you cannot see anything when you are in it.” René and his Portuguese co-pilot Filipe Palmeiro had to settle at the end of the day with 25^th position but managed to keep his 21^st position in the overall classification. 

Tomorrow the rally will leave the coast at Puerto Madryn and head inland towards Jacobacci, a leg of 694km with a long special stage of 616km. “Tomorrow will be a difficult day which we have to get through” told René Kuipers. 

Results Day 2

01. Sainz/Perin - Volkswagen 1:56:14
02. Peterhansel/Cottret - Mitsubishi +0:01:14
03. De Villiers/Von Zitzewitz - Volkswagen +0:01:56

19. Van Merksteijn/Chevaillier - BMW +0:17:06
25. Kuipers/Palmeiro - BMW +0:22:13

Standing after 2 Days 

01. Sainz/Perin - Volkswagen 4:34:46
02. De Villiers/Von Zitzewitz - Volkswagen +0:02:19
03. Peterhansel/Cottret - Mitsubishi +0:03:51

13. Van Merksteijn/Chevaillier - BMW +0:25:28
21. Kuipers/Palmeiro - BMW +0:39:24

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