Gerard de Rooy and Federico Villagra win the first and second place in Stage 6, arriving in San Juan de Marcona in great form.
After the 310 km special in Stage 6, Team PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO keeps a podium position in the overall classification and all four trucks in the race, having covered almost 2,000 timed kilometres since the start of the Dakar 2019.
Gerard de Rooy, PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO Team leader and winner of the Dakar 2012 and 2016, and Federico Villagra, who was a few kilometers away from the podium in 2018, achieved very similar times in Stage 6, on a route that was 75% on sand. It included the treacherous Tanaka Dunes, which extend over 155 square kilometers between the Pacific Ocean and de Peruvian Andes in the south-central region of the country.
Gerard De Rooy won the stage by 30 seconds over Federico Villagra, who arrived second in San Juan de Marcona.
Ton van Genugten was assigned the win for Stage 5 after 15 minutes he spent helping a crashed rival were returned to him. In Stage 6 he was indicated to open roads for Trucks; he didn’t loose much time until he hit trouble after the neutralization zone and fell more than one hour behind. He finished 1h37m behind the leader, but keeps the fourth position overall.
Another difficult moment came up for Maurik van den Heuvel, who lost almost one hour in the first checkpoint in his #513 Powerstar. He finished in eighth position, 1h36m behind the leader.
IVECO is showing its strength with four trucks still in the race, of which three in the Top 5. Next is the first looped stage, with beginning and end at the bivouac in San Juan de Marcona.
RESULTS – STAGE 6
1. Gerard de Rooy (IVECO) 4h34m10s
2. Federico Villagra (IVECO) +30s
3. Dmitry Sotnikov (Kamaz) +07m05s
4. Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz) +08m46s
5. Siarhei Viazovich (Maz) +54m15s
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8. Maurik Van Den Heuvel (IVECO) +1h30m40s
9. Ton Van Genugten (IVECO) +1h37m45s
OVERALL STANDINGS AFTER STAGE 6
1. Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz) 24h28m33s
2. Dmitry Sotnikov (Kamaz) +10m13s
3. Gerard de Rooy (IVECO) +1h50m03s
4. Ton Van Genugten (IVECO) +3h29m30s
5. Federico Villagra (IVECO) +4h06m48s
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10. Maurik Van Den Heuvel (IVECO) +5h42m28s