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De Rooy: “We've not been the quickest, just the smartest”

Iveco Petronas driver Gerard de Rooy has credited his team's measured approach to navigation for his lead at the halfway point of the Dakar Rally.

#500 Team De Rooy, IVECO: Gerard De Rooy, Moi Torrallardona, Darek Rodewald

#500 Team De Rooy, IVECO: Gerard De Rooy, Moi Torrallardona, Darek Rodewald

Team de Rooy

#500 Team De Rooy Iveco: Gerard de Rooy, Moises Torrallardona, Darek Rodewald
#500 Team De Rooy Iveco: Gerard de Rooy, Moises Torrallardona, Darek Rodewald
#500 Team De Rooy Iveco: Gerard de Rooy, Moises Torrallardona, Darek Rodewald
#500 Team De Rooy, IVECO: Gerard De Rooy, Moi Torrallardona, Darek Rodewald
#500 Team De Rooy, IVECO: Gerard De Rooy, Moi Torrallardona, Darek Rodewald
#500 Team De Rooy Iveco: Gerard de Rooy, Moises Torrallardona, Darek Rodewald

Having lost ground early on in the rally, reigning trucks champion de Rooy recovered with two stage wins on the trot on Thursday and Friday, taking over at the helm of the overall classification.

“For sure we were not the quickest over the last two days, but definitely the smartest,” said de Rooy. “We didn't make any mistakes. I think we did 1km too much, but we checked and realised very quickly: 'Okay, go back, check it again'. Some people lost 40 [minutes], an hour, an hour and a half.

“I have a very good co-driver [Moises Torrallardona] - and it's not just him, it's the whole team. If he's doubting, if there's a difficult point, we have six eyes - everyone needs to look for the tracks. And I think that's working out really well for us.”

De Rooy said he was relieved to see Saturday's Oruro–La Paz stage cancelled, as conditions deteriorated amid heavy rain on Friday evening.

“We were very happy that the special from yesterday was cancelled," said the Dutchman. "The bivouac was a nightmare, we couldn't check the trucks.

“It was all covered in mud. I think the truck was four or five hundred kilos more heavy.”

De Rooy and his crew are now gearing up for the La Paz-Uyuni marathon stage on Monday, but the two-time Dakar trucks champion isn't sure how it will be affected by weather conditions.

“The first week was not that tough for the truck, we're doing a lot of maintenance now, nothing spectacular," he said. "We need to be ready for the second week and especially for the marathon.

“I spoke to a lot of people and everybody has a lot of doubts over tomorrow's stage, I think it will be shortened a lot.”

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