15-01-2011 - After 9458 exhausting kilometres over stone trails, through canyons and deserts, in Argentina and Chile we can say the two remaining VEKA MAN crews have made it. On the final stage to Buenos Aires Franz Echter, Detlef Ruf and Artur Klein came in a good fourth, just ahead of Marcel van Vliet, Serge Bruynkens and Bernard der Kinderen. In the general truck rankings Franz and his men remain in fifth position, Marcel’s seventh position never came under threat today.
The feelings now are double. On one hand there is disappointment team owner Peter Versluis, Cor Euser and Pieter van Kruijsdijk had to withdraw, but on the other hand everyone is satisfied team VEKA MAN is 'best of the rest'. The latter feeling dominates as the best Dutch truck team starts its homeward journey.
A long connection road of 645 kilometres led to a short timed stage of 'just' 181 kilometres. According to Marcel it was designed to get the competitors to the hotels in the Argentinian capital as quickly as possible. "It was just full throttle on solid trails. Very straight forward, once in a while a left or right turn. I barely got below the maximum speed of 150 kilometres per hour", Marcel stated.
Due to sickness and a sore neck the team captain had a troublesome first week, but from there he improved a lot. "It is a great team result, finishing fifth and seventh behind the Kamaz truckers. I would like to thank our service crew, ready to help us out day and night. I would also like to thank Peter Versluis for reviving the team. Now we are back in Buenos Aires we can proudly say 'we are back'!"
Team manager Fred van Putten was more mottled in his conclusion of the rally. "I am satisfied, but not too much", was his statement. He realised the MAN team had performed well after a sabbatical year, but he was upset by the tactics employed by Kamaz. "I think Franz deserved to climb a position in the rankings." On the second to last stage Franz Echter had been blocked deliberately by Kamaz driver Ardavichus to help fellow Kamaz driver Mardeev secure fourth position. After two weeks of tearing through South America Echter and Mardeev were only separated by 41 seconds.
Van Putten had complained about this unfair behaviour to Kamaz chief Jakobov, who promised to behave better next time. "It is a shame it happened. There was no point in filing an official complaint. I believe you should treat each other respectfully", according to Fred, who is already looking forward for next year. "Things look great for 2012. This year we were the best non-Kamaz team, and the highest ranked Dutch truck. We should learn from this edition for next year."
After these talks all team members got to the luxurious El Conquistadores hotel to enjoy a hot shower and to freshen up for dinner. Peter had invited some friend and sponsors over and they wanted to look acceptable. A well deserved night off after two exhausting weeks. Dakar has proven itself once more to be the toughest rally in the world.