Paul Spierings can most likely forget about winning the Dakar Rally now. The 38-year-old driver from Sint-Michielsgestel ended up with his buggy upside down during stage two from Yanbu to Al Ula after an unfortunate maneuver. Spierings was able to continue, but lost a lot of time. “Whether the classification is over? I still believe in it, the Dakar Rally is still long.”
Spierings’ ultimate goal is to win the Dakar Rally this year. His win in the prologue and his second place in the first stage promised a lot, but on Monday things went wrong. “We are going to ram,” he said earlier at Omroep Brabant. “Everything is right, now it just needs to happen.”
“Shit happens, this is also part of racing.”
Nothing is impossible, until an unfortunate moment on a steep mountain pass caused the buggy to end up on its side. There appeared to be so much damage to the buggy that Spierings fell far behind the competition. “We experienced everything you can experience on this day. I hope this was it. I can’t blame anyone either, I’m a bit angry with myself. Shit happensthis is also part of racing.”
This drama day makes the stage a very difficult task. Yet Spierings does not give up. “Last year I was also about an hour and a half behind and came close. We have to try to make up as much as possible in the coming stages. We have everything we need to be at the front. I am going from hero to zero and am very motivated to become a hero again.”
Look at Da Karretje!
Omroep Brabant will also closely follow the Brabant participants during the upcoming Dakar Rally. From January 3 to 18 there is Da Karretje every day with the experiences of reporters Nynke Cuperus, Ronald Sträter and Leon Voskamp on YouTube, website and TV.
