Janus van Kasteren endured a brutal first marathon stage in the Dakar Rally. After a day packed with technical issues during Stage 4, his Century flipped over just 20 kilometers into Stage 5. I was just happy to make it through, the Dutchman said about the first day, which he had to finish with broken gears.
The nightmare started early in Stage 4. Van Kasteren was already far behind due to earlier problems and spent the entire day driving in dust. That is basically the story of the whole Dakar. If you have a few issues, you end up at the back. Then you have to drive for two days without anything else going wrong just to get back to where you belong.
But things did go wrong. The multi belt snapped, causing the power steering to fail. It took quite a while to replace it, Van Kasteren explained. Once back on the road, the engine started misfiring, and the gearbox also broke down.
No third or fourth gear
When shifting into third or fourth gear, it would just slip into neutral, he explained. The Dutchman had to complete the rest of the stage without two crucial gears. We just kept pushing to the finish. And of course, we had two flat tires, those are part of the daily routine here.
Van Kasteren finished 54th, 1 hour, 47 minutes, and 52 seconds behind stage winner Henk Lategan, over an hour and a half adrift.
Flipped after 20 kilometers
The next morning, he started with the same issues but thought he could still make it through the day. We could actually drive, so I thought, just get through this day.
But after just 20 kilometers, disaster struck. Suddenly, the car flips forward, completely over. It was just a small bump, but I think the underplate came loose or cracked. The car just caught on that plate.
The underplate was completely twisted. It was completely bent, it was a flat plate, and it was just twisted all the way around, so you could practically roll down the hill with it.
Ben de Groot helps with repairs
The impact was severe. Flipped forward, crawled out, two tires off the rims, so we had to get those back on. Ben de Groot, who was nearby, helped with the repairs. Ben de Groot gave us a good hand with that.
But the misery wasnt over yet. The throttle also got stuck. Van Kasteren spent the entire day at the very back of the field and picked up two more flat tires. Yeah, I think that about sums it up, he concluded.
Tomorrow, Stage 6 is scheduled, followed by a rest day in Riyadh, which will be more than welcome for Janus van Kasteren and Marcel Snijders.
