14-01-2011 - Like the gentleman he is, Franz Echter is not quick to take offence. But after the penultimate Dakar stage he was close to his boiling point. Franz was very upset with Kamaz driver Eduard Nikolaev for his unfair driving style as the Russian driver had blocked the number 507 VEKA MAN for twenty minutes, even though the German trucker was clearly faster. Franz had tried sounding the digital horn over the sentinel system numerous times, but the Kamaz driver wanted to protect the position of his team mate Ilgizar Mardeev and refused to give way. After the stage from San Juan to Cordoba, Mardeev has 2 minutes and 24 seconds over Franz Echter. If Nikolaev would not have blocked the quicker truck of the German VeKa crew, the margin could have been even smaller. Maybe Franz, Detlef Ruf and Artur Klein would even have in fourth position instead of fifth. Despite the blocking the 507 VeKa MAN still came in a respectable fourth on this stage were the results were pretty close together.

Marcel van Vliet, Serge Bruynkens and Bernard der Kinderen had no notion of this unsportsmanlike behaviour. They finished seventh, the same position VEKA MAN number 503 has in the general standings. Navigator Serge had a very easy day. "It was too easy for a navigator. I just had to say 'straight on', 'left' or 'right'. On the other hand, now I had some time to look at the scenery. Usually there is no time for that", the Belgian laughed.

Marcel arrived soaked. Not just with sweat but even more so from exterior water. "The past days there has been a lot of rain here. Today we drove through a lot of standing water, splashing it up to 5 kilometres high. There even was mud on the cabin ceiling. I got caught by all that mud too because I had forgotten to close my window", he recalled mischievously.
Even though the stage was relatively simple, driver Marcel had to be careful with the mechanical side of the truck. The clutch had gone with 150 kilometres to go, so changing gear was a bit of a hassle. "Surprisingly no one passed us and we only lost ten minutes on the quickest truck (Chagin). It is important we finished ahead of our nearest rival for seventh, Kamaz driver Ardavichus", Marcel explained. "Now we go full speed to Buenos Aires and we make sure we finish the rally."
On the final day the decimated Dakar caravan has to negotiate a connecting road of 645 kilometres before the final timed trial of 181 kilometres gives everyone a last opportunity to improve their position. The finish is at the Baradero race track in Buenos Aires. On Sunday all winners and finishers are celebrated at La Rural, the same place where it all started two weeks ago with the technical and administrative scrutiny.