The seventh stage of the Dakar Rally 2022 was not the day of Tim and Tom Coronel. Due to Tim’s sore back, the brothers couldn’t get through the 402-kilometer stage to Al Dawadimi at full speed. As a result, they came to the finish in 37th place, and had to give up a few places in the general standings.
« We were not in race mode today, » confirms Tom Coronel at the finish. « Tim still has back pain and is about 75 percent. He is usually very good in the dunes, but we drove through them calmly – perhaps too calmly. At every compression, so when the car sinks into the suspension, we took it easy. Then you lose a lot of speed. That cost us at least fifteen minutes, I estimate. »
And there were quite a few dunes in the stage, small ones in the beginning and some bigger ones a little further. At the very beginning and at the end there were fast tracks and wadis with stones. On one such stone, already 3 kilometers into the stage, Tim and Tom had the first puncture of this rally. « The first setback, a small one. Maybe we took off a little too enthusiastically, or it was just bad luck we hit a stone, » says Tom. « It was quite a lot of stones, hidden under a layer of sand, so a lot of drifting and sliding. We missed a few bends here and there, but the car just held up well. It hasn’t flinched. »
Tim en Tom Coronel Dakar Rally
At the finish, the difference to stage winner Sébastien Loeb’s time was 42 minutes. Tim and Tom dropped to nineteenth place in the standings. « That’s a shame, but it is what it is », says Tom. « Health is of course the most important. Tim is back with the masseur tonight, we hope it gets a little better every day. »