Puck Klaassen lost an hour and a half in the fourth stage of Dakar Rally 2026 due to a broken wishbone, but managed to limit the damage thanks to help from her cousin Pim Klaassen. The Dutchwoman, who made history with her stage victory two days ago, finished 23rd and retains seventh place in the classification.
It seemed the perfect follow-up to her historic victory in stage 3, when the 22-year-old Klaassen became the youngest woman ever to win a Dakar stage. But at kilometre 132 of the marathon special, things went wrong. “We broke an upper wishbone,” Klaassen said with damaged hands afterwards. “Normally you lose 15, maybe a maximum of 20 minutes replacing that part, but we didn’t have the part in the car.”
Hour and a half waiting for part
What followed was a race against time. Klaassen and navigator Augusto Sanz had to wait an hour and a half before the right part arrived, working in the meantime with damaged hands on the car to be prepared for the repair.
The rescue came from a family member, her cousin Pim who also competes in the Challenger category. He stopped and had the right part with him. “I’m really grateful that Pim stopped for me and gave me the right part. Thank you cousin!”
Time loss limited
With the part, Klaassen and Sanz could carry out the repair and continue. She ultimately finished 23rd at 1:45:24, a significant time loss but not fatal for her classification. “We lose some positions and time of course, but it’s okay. The car looks good, so we’re putting the finishing touches on it now and tomorrow we’ll continue,” she said upon arrival at the marathon bivouac last night.
In the overall classification, Klaassen is seventh at 1:38:01 behind leader Yasir Seaidan, who has just a 45-second advantage over Pau Navarro. Nicolás Cavigliasso, who won the fourth stage, is third at 6:45.
Pim loses five hours
For Pim Klaassen, helping his cousin had major consequences. By stopping and giving away the part, he lost considerable time himself. He finished 34th at 5:06:28, over five hours behind the winner. A significant time loss to keep his cousin in the race.
Marathon without service
The timing of the problem was particularly unfortunate. The fourth stage was the first part of the marathon stage, with drivers spending that evening in a bare refuge camp without their service teams. They must carry out any repairs themselves with limited resources.
“The car looks good,” Klaassen said hopefully before the start of the second marathon section to Ha’il. Klaassen will do everything to improve her position in the overall classification, it won’t be for lack of fighting spirit.
