BISHA – The Eurol Rally Sport team has dealt its first, mainly psychological, blow. Mitchel van den Brink was the fastest in the prologue. Martin van den Brink finished eighth. ”It’s all going according to plan.”
“The first blow is worth a dime. Seen in that perspective, Mitchel van den Brink can be more than satisfied. The Harskamper opened the Dakar Rally with a solid prologue and proved to be seven seconds faster than the number two at the separation of the market.
Second place was somewhat surprisingly for Lithuanian Vaidotas Zala. Defending champion Martin Macik finished third and had to give up 23 seconds to Mitchel. As is well known, Mitchel and father Martin drive the exact same truck as Macik, the truck’s constructor.
The result of the 29-kilometer prologue around Bisha, by the way, is not important for the classification. The opening dance is primarily a serious warm-up for the remainder. The result of the 29-kilometer test does determine the starting order for the first stage. The first stage will cover a total of 500 kilometers on Saturday. The special has 483 kilometers. That is where the balance of power becomes clearer. The stage begins and ends in Bisha.
‘It really is a cannon’
Mitchel van den Brink, Moi Torrallardona and Jarno van de Pol seriously accelerated in the Iveco, but never really pushed the limit for a moment. ,,We pushed well to win the prologue in order to open tomorrow. That is a good perspective for us. If they do overtake us then we don’t have to open in the 48-hour stage, which starts Sunday. It’s a great start to the rally. It’s going according to plan. The team is good, the truck is great. It’s a pleasure to drive this truck. It really is a cannon. We are very happy with it,” said 22-year-old Mitchel immediately after finishing the prologue.
‘Nice start’
For Martin, who forms a team with Bart van Heun and Richard Mouw, the prologue was also more than successful. ,,We are definitely satisfied. The course was fast, interspersed with stones, river beds and sand. We had a nice cut and ride around the bushes. It perhaps could have been a bit harder, but that wasn’t really necessary now,” said Van den Brink senior (54). ”It’s a nice start for us with Mitchel in first place. Tomorrow we will start with a good feeling for the first real stage.”