There was some bewilderment in Tim Coronel’s voice as he talked about how well things are actually going after the fifth stage. “It’s really starting to roll. We are getting used to each other well, the car feels nicer and nicer, we have a good rhythm going. We’ve really found our groove this Dakar.”
“It’s really starting to roll”
Tim Coronel – Dakar Driver
It is reflected in the results, which are consistently around 20th place. The fifth stage, a loop near Ha’il, the twins finished with the 21st time. In the standings, this means that at one third of the rally they are now in a neat sixteenth place, just ahead of compatriot Erik van Loon. By the way, they met him on the way: on his roof. “We stopped there very briefly, but we couldn’t do much, so we continued on.”
Tim and Tom had a great time on the fifth stage, a 374 kilometer route that consisted of almost half dunes. “In the beginning a lot of dunes,” Tom says, “followed by very fast trails in the middle section and then again very high dunes. It went really super well. It was a tough day, with a lot of pounding, but also a beautiful day.”
In the middle section, Tim and Tom hooked up with a Toyota from Estonia. “As a result, our pace also went up again. When you see the ass diving down 200 meters in front of you, you know there’s a dismount coming. If it stays straight and just bumps back and forth, you know it’s going to be okay.”
The brothers are totally happy with their car, the Century CR6. “That thing is seriously strong and good,” thinks Tom. “Very okay.” Tim, too, is “super happy” with it. “We’re having a blast and having a lot of fun.”
Fun was also had on the connecting route from the finish of the competition test to the bivouac in Ha’il, 130 kilometers away. Tim and Tom took Guerlain Chicherit – winner of stage 3 – in tow, but ran out of gas 4 kilometers before the bivouac itself, which in turn forced them to go on tow as well. Vaidotas Zala was kind enough to bring both cars home, with the Century sandwiched between two BRXs. “That too is the Dakar,” laughed Tim, “helping each other.”
The sixth stage leaves Ha’il again and heads southeast. Not to Al Duwadimi, as intended, but to Riyadh. Due to the rain of the past few days, the place where the bivouac should be located in Al Duwadimi is not passable. The competition test has been shortened to about 370 kilometers to give the participants time for the drive to Riyadh.
