Press Release: End of Dakar Rally for Peter van Merksteijn
During the 5th leg in the Dakar Rally 2009 Peter van Merksteijn finds his Waterloo after Neuquen while in driving in 12th position overall when his BMW X3CC caught fire. During the 506km long special stage from Neuquen to San Rafael the car caught fire and both drivers could leave the car unhurt. René Kuipers achieved his best result so far by finishing the day in 13th place.
After the tough day of yesterday Peter set out in the morning and had a good run. He achieved competitive split times and drove on 14th place towards check point 2. At 390km, about km before the checkpoint we suffered a puncture at the rear. "It was not clear which tyre had a puncture so as a precaution we changed them both while we were at it as it went pretty quick." About 7km after checkpoint 2 the Dakar Rally was over for the Dutch Dakar debutante".
"We both smelt a burning odor in the car so we stopped immediately. Eddy stepped out of the car and saw that the rear of the BMW X3CC was already on fire". After activating the fire extinguishing system and stepping away from the vehicle there was nothing they could do to save the burning car. Peter was evacuated by helicopter and back in the bivouac he commented on his Dakar ending. "This is an enormous disappointment. It went so fantastic. But I won't let this Event put me of because I really enjoy the Dakar Rally. I would like to have another go at it."
René Kuipers had a very good day today and finished the day in an impressive 13th position. Today's result moves him up the standing to 14th position. René kept during today's special stage his steady pace of the last few days and steered well clear of troubles. 20 minutes were lost when rené and his co-driver Filipe Palmeiro stopped at the burning car of Peter van Merksteijn to offer assistance but there was little they could do.
Tomorrow's leg has a relative short special stage of 395km which will start immediately with 60km of dunes and towards the end they will encounter a wide ford which they will have to cross without getting wet. The rally travels further north from San Rafael to Mendoza in the foothills of the Andes mountains.
Results 5th Leg
01. De Villiers/Von Zitzewitz - Volkswagen 5:47:43
02. Depping/Gottschalk - Volkswagen +2:18
03. Gordon/Grider - Hummer +4:12
13. Kuipers/Palmeiro - BMW +1:31:08
Van Merksteijn/Chevaillier - BMW - Retired
Standings after 5th day
01. Al-Attiyah /Thörner - BMW 18:44:37
02. De Villiers/Von Zitzewitz - Volkswagen +2:24
03. Sainz/Perin - Volkswagen +6:33
14. Kuipers/Palmeiro - BMW +3:15:42
Van Merksteijn/Chevaillier - BMW - Retired
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