A week after a successful Baja Aragón, Daklapack Rallysport (DKR) travelled on to Portugal for the Baja TT Sharish Gin in Reguengos de Monsaraz. The race, which counts towards the FIA European Baja Cup, is considered one of the finest on the European calendar, with rolling hills, scattered trees and large lakes as its backdrop. The Dutch team lined up with four crews at the start and, on paper, had the prospect of a strong weekend.
It became three days of extremes. The crews showed themselves at the front, but were repeatedly caught out by misfortune: broken drivetrain components, punctures and an unlucky impact against a tree. Of the four cars with a shot at a good classification, only one ultimately held on to reach the podium.
Pim Klaassen and Joël Lutas – DKR EVO GTR
The Dutch-Portuguese pairing of Pim Klaassen and Joël Lutas began strongly with the DKR EVO GTR, setting the second-fastest time among the Ultimates in the prologue. After a fifth-fastest time on the narrow, technical opening stage came a recovery with third place in stage 2A and fourth in 2B. Going into the final stage on Sunday they stood fourth among the Ultimates, one minute off the podium. With 26 kilometres to the finish, a mount for the rear differential sheared off, causing the differential to tip and a cooling system line to break. Their race was over. The EVO GTR showed its potential once again, but the car is still being developed step by step.
Henk Klaassen and Sasha Panyavuthi – Taurus T3 MAX
In the six-kilometre prologue, Henk Klaassen and Sasha Panyavuthi lost eight seconds to a small mistake. That weighed heavily, because the prologue determined the starting position for stages 1, 2A and 2B, which were scored as one long stage. On the stages themselves they drove strongly and led the Challenger class after stage 2A, until the rear differential gave out about two-thirds of the way through stage 2B. With front-wheel drive only, they dropped back to third place. In the final stage they again set the fastest time at the first split, after which the rear driveshaft also broke. Thanks to a comfortable margin over fourth place, the podium remained within reach, but 400 metres from the finish the light Taurus failed to climb a very steep incline and slid slowly back down. After an hour and a half of struggling, they still reached the finish line. Their speed confirms their standing among the world’s best in the Challenger class, but the high pace puts the lightweight car under severe strain.
Herman Jasper and Mark Laan – Red-Lined VK50
After their outing with the DKR EVO V8 in South Africa, Herman Jasper and Mark Laan returned to their familiar Red-Lined VK50, and the experience with the larger car paid off. Following the fourth-fastest prologue time in their class, four seconds off the leader, they worked their way up to second in the standings with third-fastest times in stages 1 and 2A and second-fastest in 2B. The gap to the leader was four minutes; compatriot and rival Ronald Schoolderman followed three minutes behind. With just one 60-kilometre stage remaining, the main task appeared to be bringing the car home in one piece. After a fast, long off-camber descent came a ditch and a gentle right-hand bend, where the only little tree in the wide surroundings stood. The right front wheel struck the tree and broke off, ending the race for this pairing too. With 26 kilometres to the finish, three of the four DKR cars with podium chances had thereby been eliminated.
Jenne Jasper and Pedro Santos – Bowler Nemesis
The one bright spot came from the T8 class, for cars more than ten years old. The just 19-year-old Jenne Jasper, together with Pedro Santos, set the fastest prologue time in the class in the heavy but impressive Bowler Nemesis. Because the original tyre size is not permitted in the Portuguese competition, the team switched to Fedima. After two third places in stages 1 and 2A, three punctures in stage 2B cost a lot of time, but with help from the team and a spare wheel they made it to the bivouac. With raised tyre pressure they drove the final day without error and finished third in the class: the only DKR crew to reach the podium this weekend.
Speed without reward
For DKR, the Baja TT Sharish Gin was a race of missed opportunities. Every crew had the pace for a top result, but mechanical problems and a few small mistakes kept the crews off the podium. Notably, the damage was concentrated in the drivetrain: two rear differentials and a driveshaft gave out under the harsh, abrasive terrain. That underlines that there is still work to do on reliability, certainly on the EVO GTR, which is still in development. The team stresses that the speed and potential are clearly there and that the technical problems are being addressed with the coming races in mind.
