The Renault Trucks of the Dutch Mammoet Rallysport Team both finished the tough second stage of the Dakar Rally. Martin van den Brink finished 8th and Janus van Kasteren qualified as 13th. "We are very satisfied with this result," said Martin van den Brink. "We had the Speed of Nikolaev (Kamaz), who won the stage. But we lost half an hour because we got stuck in the Dunes."

After that unwanted delay the Renault Sherpa crew pushed the truck up to the finish line. "We have had no further problems. However, many participants were in trouble. It was a difficult stage, very beautiful, but also dangerous. You didn´t see the what comes behind a dune top and then you have to wait and see how deep and tricky it is. If you are unlucky, you are lying somewhere in a dune pan and then you have to wait and see how you end up there. You have to be very careful in this type of terrain."

"I´m satisfied with the 8th place on Sunday and the 6th in the standings. The truck was running well. We are looking forward to the upcoming days. Crazy things are going to happen in the dunes of Peru."

In addition to the satisfaction of Van den Brink, their fast assistant Renault 4x4 truck of Janus van Kasteren was also running well and finished as 13th. "We had a wonderful day. The only dunes I have ever driven are the dunes in Morocco. But this is a different matter," Van Kasteren said. The debutant in the Dakar Rally is happy with the support and knowledge of navigator Wouter de Graaff and mechanic Richard Mouw. "We form an excellent team together. Wouter and Richard have done everything to help me and to navigate through the dunes."

For the team, there was a special moment to remember. "We stopped for a while at a very high dune. There was a Kamaz on the bump and trucks stopped in the valley. We drove around and found the right track to the dune top. The truck is also so great in these conditions. We could follow the dunes by 'flipping'."

For Janus van Kasteren there is still a lot to learn, but the first experience tastes like more. "We are now 13th in the overall standings. I am very satisfied with that. There will be more of these stages in the coming days and we are looking forward to them."

Photos: Mammoet, MKR

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