While he won Stage 1, Sunday was the first “real” stage for Mitchel van den Brink as a T1+ driver. It wasn’t perfect, but you wouldn’t know otherwise from the results.
Despite being the first car on track, van den Brink completed the 341-kilometer stage with a very comfortable gap on everyone else. He beat Ronald van Loon by 14:53, and that was with a five-minute mulligan given to the field because of a mechanical issue.
“We were stopped for five minutes because something came loose,” he explained. “We managed to fix it and got going again. We’re super satisfied. Despite losing five minutes in time, we still had a substantial lead. We drove well and didn’t run into anything crazy. We’ve really found our rhythm and the results so far are great.
“Bart (van Heun) did a fantastic job. We had to take the lead by navigating. We passed all the bikes that started ahead of us, and then we were at the front the rest of the way. You don’t see any tracks at the front, so navigation becomes of great importance.”
It would’ve been another perfect day for the van den Brinks had fellow Dutchman Kay Huzink not pipped Mitchel’s dad Martin for the Truck win. Huzink caught the older van den Brink, who won the class in Stage 1, 25 kilometers into the leg before he yielded in the dust.
Huzink pulled away before the air in his right front tire started to seep out just ten kilometers from the finish. Navigator Corné Blok quickly enabled the tire inflation system to keep it pressurized, ensuring he beat van den Brink by 6:52.
Coincidentally, the Huzinks had the same Sunday as the van den Brinks as one family member won his class while another was runner-up elsewhere. Whereas Kay won in Trucks, his cousin Gert finished second in SSV to Paulo Rodrigues by 3:49.
Being the first long stage of the Morocco Desert Challenge meant plenty of drama in the dunes as well as outside of racing. The refuel zone was a mess because one of the gas pumps was broken, leading to a massive line as everyone had to use jerry cans to fuel up. It took nearly 40 minutes before neutralization was sorted out.
Darek Łysek rolled his truck down a dune, landing on his side. He was able to complete the stage once back on his wheels, finishing sixth. Geoff Minnitt suffered the same fate after going off course, leaving him stranded for two hours as he and Henry Köhne worked to get the Can-Am running again.
“Not where we wanted to be, but we’re still in this,” said Minnitt. “Back tomorrow ready to fight.”
Stage winners
Bikes
| Class | Overall | Number | Rider | Team | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bike | 1 | 104 | David McBride | Vendetta Racing | 4:40:20 |
| Veterans Cup | 1 | 104 | David McBride | Vendetta Racing | 4:40:20 |
| Ladies Cup | 22 | 119 | Beatriz Diez | Club Aventura Touareg | 7:05:56 |
Cars
| Class | Overall | Number | Driver | Team | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1+ | 1 | 301 | Mitchel van den Brink | Eurol Rally Sport / MP Rallysport | 3:48:00 |
| T1 4×4 | 7 | 310 | Vincent Vroninks | Desert Lions Rally Team | 4:23:10 |
| T1 4×2 | 4 | 303 | Agostino Rizzardi | Countrysideways | 4:12:17 |
| T2 | 17 | 323 | Ernst Amort | RZR Racing | 6:01:46 |
SSVs
| Class | Overall | Number | Driver | Team | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T3 | 2 | 203 | Gert Huzink | QFF Racing | 4:12:54 |
| T4 | 1 | 204 | Paulo Rodrigues | Rio Seco Racing | 4:09:05 |
| Open | 8 | 238 | Nikola Hristov | Synthesia Racing | 4:41:08 |
| Open Light | 35 | 246 | Roland Perret | Perret Family | 7:28:00 |
Trucks
| Class | Overall | Number | Driver | Team | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T5 | 1 | 501 | Kay Huzink | Kuipers-Jongbloed Hybrid / Team de Rooy | 4:16:24 |
| T5 Over 15 | 8 | 508 | Steve Ingels | RR Belgica | 7:20:39 |
| T5 Over 20 | 5 | 507 | Fons Jans | Hamer Rally Team | 5:56:04 |
Overall leaders
Bikes
| Class | Overall | Number | Rider | Team | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bike | 1 | 104 | David McBride | Vendetta Racing | 5:34:43 |
| Veterans Cup | 1 | 104 | David McBride | Vendetta Racing | 5:34:43 |
| Ladies Cup | 20 | 119 | Beatriz Diez | Club Aventura Touareg | 8:16:01 |
Cars
| Class | Overall | Number | Driver | Team | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1+ | 1 | 301 | Mitchel van den Brink | Eurol Rally Sport / MP Rallysport | 4:24:14 |
| T1 4×4 | 7 | 310 | Vincent Vroninks | Desert Lions Rally Team | 5:10:36 |
| T1 4×2 | 4 | 303 | Agostino Rizzardi | Countrysideways | 4:53:27 |
| T2 | 17 | 323 | Ernst Amort | RZR Racing | 6:55:59 |
SSVs
| Class | Overall | Number | Driver | Team | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T3 | 2 | 203 | Gert Huzink | QFF Racing | 4:56:00 |
| T4 | 1 | 204 | Paulo Rodrigues | Rio Seco Racing | 4:49:05 |
| Open | 10 | 238 | Nikola Hristov | Synthesia Racing | 5:39:00 |
| Open Light | 35 | 246 | Roland Perret | Perret Family | 12:48:00 |
Trucks
| Class | Overall | Number | Driver | Team | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T5 | 1 | 501 | Kay Huzink | Kuipers-Jongbloed Hybrid / Team de Rooy | 5:00:25 |
| T5 Over 15 | 8 | 508 | Steve Ingels | RR Belgica | 8:30:46 |
| T5 Over 20 | 6 | 507 | Fons Jans | Hamer Rally Team | 5:40:05 |
Featured image credit: Photo-vision
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