Erik van Loon and navigator Wouter Rosegaar concluded their Saudi Baja in impressive fashion. After all the technical problems yesterday, the duo won today’s final stage with a seven-second margin over Al-Helei. Thanks to the stage win, Van Loon climbed from fifth to third place in the final SSV classification. Anja van Loon and navigator Christiaan van der Rijsen also finished their first baja of the season strongly after yesterday’s problems, finishing seventh.
“The mechanics of South Racing fixed everything yesterday,” Erik explains afterwards. “The injector wasn’t right and we completely adjusted the suspension. Everything came together today. Flawless navigation from Wouter and I drove flat out. It was ‘Van Loon Airways’ today!” With the stage win and podium in the first World Cup round, Van Loon showed that the pace is definitely there for the rest of the season. Third place is an excellent start in the hunt for the world title in the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas.
Anja and Christiaan also had a strong final day. “Today went much better,” Anja says. “We could finally show what we’re capable of. It was a strong field, so our seventh place in the SSV class is a nice conclusion to this rally. Christiaan did really well for his first Cross Country and we learned a lot. I’m looking forward to more kilometers together this year.”
The next baja for Erik and Wouter is the Jordan Baja in two weeks. “That rally has a completely different character than this one. There’s little time in between, so I hope we can take this momentum with us to Jordan.”
