VM-Motorsport Press Release Day 3 Dakar ‘09: Outstanding Result for Rookie Peter van Merksteijn
On the third day of the Dakar Rally which took the competitors inland from Puerto Madryn to Ingeniero Jacobacci, Peter van Merksteijn managed to set an outstanding result in his first Dakar attempt by finishing in 12th positions. Team mate René Kuipers had a very frustrating day when he became the victim of an other competitors driving style and prevented him from finishing in the top 20.
René Kuipers and Filipe Palmeiro started the special stage as 25th car on the road in a by X-Raid entered BMW X3CC with number 330. René had a very good first part of the fast special stage which had been shortened by the organization to 550km and overtook several of the cars started in front of him. “The first section of the special stage went super. a lot of dust and strong wind which made overtaking other cars very tricky. That was until we had a puncture on a front tyre and we had to stop and change the wheel.”
After changing the flat tyre of the BMW René set out to regain the position he had held before being struck by the puncture. Various contestants who had been passed by Kuipers before made good use of the wide sand tracks and moved to the downwind side of the road so the faster X3CC could pass them again safely without being troubled by the enormous dust clouds. Until Kuipers got behind the car with number 323. “That was not normal! I was not allowed to pass him even though I was a lot faster with the BMW” reacted a frustrated Kuipers. “The better part of the second half of the stage I had to drive behind him in the dust. By driving on the other side of the track he created so much dust I could not see a thing and overtaking blind would be too dangerous.”
Due to the unnecessary delay the team of Kuipers and Palmeiro were deprived of a top 20 finish and had to settle for 23rd place. The management of BMW X-Raid was furious about what had happened to their car with 330 and considered to file an official protest with the Dakar organization but decided not to go through with this as it would be against the fair play spirit of the team and the rally.
Peter van Merksteijn had another excellent day on the long special stage as Dakar Rookie and joined the battle for tenth position in the Dakar Rally. “At the beginning the buggies caused some trouble as the pace for them was today to high but after passing them I had another safe run to the finish”
After the 200km point the Dutch amateur driver could improve on his speed and for a long time he held 10th position behind Dakar veteran and 2006 Dakar winner Luc Alphand in the Mitsubishi. “Today we didn’t take any risks. It is the first time for Peter van Merksteijn that he enters in a Dakar event and we want to bring the BMW back to Buenos Aires” said co-driver Eddy Chevaillier in the bivouac. “I am very impressed by the car feeling and control Peter has for the car. It is the first time he drives a rally in the X3CC, it’s really amazing” commented he about his driver.
Tomorrow’s leg of 488km heads north from Jacobacci to Neuquen and includes a 459km long special stage. The stage starts 4km outside the bivouac and will feature several rocky parts, sandy conditions and wadi’s and the drivers will pass near the protected area of the Valley of the Dinosaurs. Another 25km liaison will take them to the bivouac again.
Results of the third leg
01. Al-Attiyah/Thörner - BMW 4:29:27
02. Sainz/Perin - Volkswagen +0:00:35
03. Depping /Gottschalk - Volkswagen +0:01:40
12. Van Merksteijn/Chevaillier - BMW +0:26:10
23. Kuipers/Palmeiro - BMW +0:45:33
Standing after the third day
01. Sainz/Perin - Volkswagen 9:04:486
02. Al-Attiyah /Thörner - BMW +0:03:40
03. De Villiers/Von Zitzewitz - Volkswagen +0:05:45
12. Van Merksteijn/Chevaillier - BMW +0:51:03
19. Kuipers/Palmeiro - BMW +1:24:22
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