The route from Al Henakiyah to the coastal town of Yanbu had it all: thick soft dunes, wadis between the rocks, fast sections and challenging navigation. With a 28th place, 33 minutes behind the stage winner, Tim and Tom Coronel record their best result so far. In the penultimate stage they show what they’re capable of. « I think this is the best result, » says Tom. « This stage definitely belongs to the top three we’ve had during the Dakar Rally. »
Tim enthusiastically agrees. « Wow, what a stage. It had everything. I dare say: for us really in the top three of this rally. There were really tough dunes, lots of those climbers that were soft. Also many wadis, between the rocks, fast sections, great rally terrain. A beautiful finish, really beautiful stage. »
Familiar route
Tom recognized parts of the route. « I think we did this one a few years ago with the Beast, » he explains. « There were a few things where I said: ‘Oh yes, we had this back then too. Just watch, we’re going to drive past the fence soon’. And sure enough, there we went past the fence. Then we went up, I said: ‘Then we’ll get those with those really big black stones, that moonscape’. And sure enough, there it came. »
The organization chose to include a tough stage at the end of the rally as well. « Usually the end is a bit soft, but I see that they’ve really thrown in serious stages at the end now. And we handled those well and completed them successfully, » says Tom.
Soft dunes and perfect navigation
The dunes were spectacular but demanding. « Beautiful, really big dunes, were super soft, » Tom explains. « Once we had to go slightly diagonally along the back, kept sliding along it, had to go up the other side. So I thought for a moment: ‘Oops, is it going to be that kind of day?’. But fortunately it all went well. »
Tim adds: « Eventually managed to get to the top, because we didn’t quite make one. » The navigation was sharp. « Twice we saw others take the wrong path and we were spot-on, » says Tim proudly. Tom agrees: « Navigation was spot-on. I saw them go wrong once, I said: ‘That’s not right Tim, we need to go that way’. And that worked well too. »
Good rhythm and lighter weight
Tom noticed that Tim was in his element. « I also just notice that we had a good swing going. Tim just has a good feeling with the car, that he’s really driving faster than normal. So that was really good. »
The weight of the car also played a role. « I’ve been playing around a bit with fuel, and you could really notice that, » Tom explains. « I think I’m driving with almost 100 liters less than we normally drove with. Then you see that works really well, because that gives us much more feel with the car. The car is of course also a lot lighter, and that’s right, because it’s a good 100 to 110 kilos difference. »
Time lost in the dust
Not everything went perfectly. « We did drive in the dust for a while, lost some time. We gave away about three, four minutes, » says Tom. « But otherwise I think we drove a really good stage. Had a lot of fun, laughed a lot. »
Tim also saw many others with problems. « We saw many people standing with problems again. Yeah, you were really challenged, so really cool. »
Tomorrow final loop
Tomorrow the final stage is on the program, a 100-kilometer loop around Yanbu. « Okay, you can mess it up there, » says Tom realistically. « But the real Dakar is over for us now. The tough stages have been completed, and this one was part of that too. »
Tim concludes: « Yeah, it’s always nice that it’s the last day. Tomorrow is officially the last day, but yeah, this was a real one. Wonderful! »