#314 Mitsubishi: Bernhard Ten Brinke, Matthieu Baumel
Riwald Dakar Team
Strong performance for Gert Huzink
Today showed a remarkable performance for the Riwald Dakar Team; the team seems to have three potential top-10 finishers. Today it was Gert Huzink who crossed the finish line of the special stage near Fiambala in 10th place! Huzink drove his Mitsubishi Racing Lancer without any problems over the 177 km long special stage, while his team mates Erik Wevers and Bernhard ten Brinke suffered from punctures and the like. Polish driver Krystof Holowczyc won today’s stage in his MINI.
Upon his arrival in the bivouac Gert Huzink was still smiling from ear-to-ear: “Fantastic, what a day! We enjoyed it very much again – we drove a good pace throughout the stage and stayed out of trouble. And see for the result….! Top-10 – incredible. But I have to admit that I’m receiving great coaching from my co-driver Eugénie Decré. With her huge experience in this kind of rallies she manages to lead me through the most difficult parts of the route!”
“Today we tried to regain confidence after we put the car on its side yesterday when we hit a small tree stump. We had a good pace today,” said Bernhard ten Brinke, after finishing in 13th place today. “However, we still had a puncture and got stuck once in the sand. But other than that the feeling is good and the car’s performance is just amazing!”
For Erik Wevers it is great to play an important role as a driver in the Dakar and at the same time to see how well his whole team is performing this first week of the event. “I’m enjoying myself very much. Today was supposed to be a tough stage, but thanks to the rain the route was much harder and better drivable than expected. However, we had the same problem as Bernhard: one puncture and once stuck in the sand!” Losing some ten minutes Wevers and his experienced Belgian co-driver Fabian Lurquin continued their route to finish in 15th place.
Riwald Dakar Team ‘trucker’ Richard Huzink is also right on track. Yesterday he finished with his GINAF truck in 28th position, resulting in a few places up the overall ranking! And today he is still on the stage on his way to the finish, but going well.
Today the special finished near to the bivouac; therefore most of the teams arrived early and the mechanics could already start working in getting the cars ready for the 6th day of the rally to finish work early and finally get some sleep! The Riwald Dakar Team drivers are top fit, since they had a good night of sleep in hotels along the route. Team manager David Serieys (former manager with Mitsubishi Motorsport) is very pleased with the team’s performance so far: “Our preparations – both with the cars as well as with the drivers’ physical training – seem to pay off. And overall we are well organised. So the results will follow almost from itself….”
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