The 39th edition of the Dakar Rally came to an end with Saturday’s twelfth stage. With a short special of 64 kilometres looping Río Cuarto, participants took their vehicles to the finish line to conclude world’s most difficult rally raid.
Gerard de Rooy, PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO team leader and winner of the 2012 and 2016 Dakar rallies with IVECO, took his Powerstar to the third spot on the podium having battled adversity and jockeyed for position with his rivals during the two weeks’ competition.
Having led the race, the Dutchman suffered several punctures through the stages. As a result he fell back behind other vehicles, so that excessive dust and limited opportunities to overtake frustrated his efforts to regain the lead. But the power of his IVECO truck enabled to add another podium finish to his name, as he finished third, 41m19s behind Dakar winner, Eduard Nikolaev.
Ton van Genugten’s and Wuf van Ginkel’s IVECO Trakkers travelled together in the last stages and recovered some positions after loosing more than six hours for being stuck in mud.
Van Genugten, behind the wheel of the #507, finished in 16th place, almost seven hours away from the leaders. Van Ginkel arrived behind his teammate in 17th position, but more than eight hours behind.
Behind the wheel of another IVECO Powerstar, Federico Villagra finished the 2017 Dakar Rally just behind De Rooy in fourth place. He was not able to repeat last year’s podium win and is yet to achieve his aim to win a stage. However, the Argentine driver showed good potential in his second year with IVECO.
Stage 12 Results – Dakar 2017
1. Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz) 34m25s
2. Airat Mardeev (Kamaz) +33s
3. Siarhei Viazovich (Maz) +44s
4. Peter Versluis (MAN) +1m09s
5. Federico Villagra (IVECO) +1m25s
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8. Gerard de Rooy (IVECO) +2m21s
10. Wuf van Ginkel (IVECO) +2m40s
11. Ton van Genugten (IVECO) + 2m42s
Overall Classification – Dakar 2017
1. Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz) 27h58m24s
2. Dmitry Sotnikov (Kamaz) +18m58s
3. Gerard de Rooy (IVECO) +41m19s
4. Federico Villagra (IVECO) +1h00m04s
5. Airat Mardeev (Kamaz) +2h26m50s
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16. Ton van Genugten (IVECO) +6h58m03s
17. Wuf van Ginkel (IVECO) + 8h19m48s