Team PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO wins Stage 6 of Dakar Rally 2019 with two podium places

Tuesday 15th January 2019

IVECO is showing its strength with four trucks still in the race, of which three are in the top five.

After the 310 km special in Stage 6, Team PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO keeps a podium position in the overall classification and all four trucks in the race, having covered almost 2,000 timed kilometres since the start of the Dakar 2019.

Gerard de Rooy, PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO Team leader and winner of the Dakar 2012 and 2016, and Federico Villagra, who was a few kilometres away from the podium in 2018, achieved very similar times in Stage 6, on a route that was 75 per cent on sand. It included the treacherous Tanaka Dunes, which extend over 155 square kilometres between the Pacific Ocean and de Peruvian Andes in the south-central region of the country.

Gerard De Rooy won the stage by 30 seconds over Federico Villagra, who arrived second in San Juan de Marcona.

Ton van Genugten was assigned the win for Stage 5 after the 15 minutes he spent helping a crashed rival were returned to him. In Stage 6 he hit trouble and finished 1h37m behind the leader, but keeps fourth position overall.

Another difficult moment came up for Maurik van den Heuvel, who lost almost one hour in the first checkpoint in his #513 Powerstar – finishing in eighth position.

IVECO is showing its strength with four trucks still in the race, of which three are in the top five. Next is the first looped stage, which begins and end at the bivouac in San Juan de Marcona.

RESULTS – STAGE 6
1. Gerard de Rooy (IVECO) 4h34m10s
2. Federico Villagra (IVECO) +30s
3. Dmitry Sotnikov (Kamaz) +07m05s
4. Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz) +08m46s
5. Siarhei Viazovich (Maz) +54m15s
………………..
8. Maurik Van Den Heuvel (IVECO) +1h30m40s
9. Ton Van Genugten (IVECO) +1h37m45s

OVERALL STANDINGS AFTER STAGE 6
1. Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz) 24h28m33s
2. Dmitry Sotnikov (Kamaz) +10m13s
3. Gerard de Rooy (IVECO) +1h50m03s
4. Ton Van Genugten (IVECO) +3h29m30s
5. Federico Villagra (IVECO) +4h06m48s
………………..
10. Maurik Van Den Heuvel (IVECO) +5h42m28s