Home » Mitchel van den Brink Wins Prologue Dakar Rally

Mitchel van den Brink Wins Prologue Dakar Rally

The Dakar Rally has started with the prologue, consisting of a 29-kilometer connecting route and a 50-kilometer special stage. In the trucks, the result only determined the starting position for the first stage.

Mitchel van den Brink won convincingly and confirmed his status as a favorite, but also immediately put himself in the sights of his competitors.

The Lithuanian debutant in the truck class, Vaidotas Žala, surprised with a second place, only seven seconds behind Van den Brink. Žala, accompanied by navigator Paulo Fiuza and mechanic Max van Grol, uses an Iveco prepared by De Rooy. Martin Macik, last year’s winner, came third at 22 seconds, followed by his compatriot Soltys in a renewed Tatra.

Reactions from the field

Mitchel van den Brink was satisfied:
“We drove well to win the prologue and start first tomorrow. That gives us a good starting point. The team and the truck are functioning excellently. It feels like a pleasure to drive this truck.”

His father, Martin van den Brink, finished eighth, 56 seconds behind his son:
“It was a fast course with varied surfaces. We made a solid start. Tomorrow we will enter the first real stage with confidence.”

Kees Koolen finished fifth, 34 seconds behind:
“A great place to start tomorrow. Today was just the prelude to the real challenge.”

Maurik van den Heuvel (7th) and Anja van de Laar (9th) also looked back with satisfaction. Van den Heuvel drives a DKR3, a truck with a Scania engine and a chassis from Martin Macik. Anja van de Laar, together with her teammates Ben and Jan van de Laar, emphasized the difficult conditions:
“It was a good start. We did have to deal with deep ruts and a lot of dust, but the result is fine.”

Richard de Groot and his team, driving last year’s winning truck, finished eleventh. Their vehicle, an EVO3 from MM Technology, offers several technical improvements, including better weight distribution and a new gear system.

Service and support

Ard Munster and his team, driving a Tatra for South Racing, finished the prologue in 26th place. For them, the rally is all about support, although they were happy with their test moment:

“It was a nice prologue and a good chance to test the truck.”

In the Classic Dakar, Janus van Kasteren senior’s team performed strongly, finishing second in their class.

Prologue results

  1. Mitchel van den Brink – 18m04s
  2. Vaidotas Žala – +0:07
  3. Martin Macik – +0:22
  4. Martin Soltys – +0:23
  5. Kees Koolen – +0:34
  6. Aleš Loprais – +0:35
  7. Maurik van den Heuvel – +0:55
  8. Martin van den Brink – +0:56
  9. Anja van de Laar – +1:08
  10. Ben de Groot – +1:51
  11. Richard de Groot – +1:52

Preview of tomorrow

The first real stage, a tour around the bivouac in Bisha, brings a special stage of 413 kilometers. The participants are facing a challenging day.

Martin and Mitchel van den Brink: On the Road to Dakar Glory

De Rooy makes a statement in Stage 7 of the Dakar Rally

Macik increases lead in Dakar Rally

MM Technology trucks dominating fourth stage Dakar Rally