Firemen Dakarteam, stronger, better and faster on their way to Dakar
Posted on November 24, 2022 at 10:56 am
From December 31 to January 15, 2023, the 45th edition of the tough competition will take place in Saudi Arabia. The Firemen Dakarteam is participating stronger, better and faster with their new Iveco Powerstar truck.
Route
The start of the Dakar Rally will take place from the beach of the Red Sea and will finish in Damman on January 15th. Along the way, the participants will enter a sandy and mysterious area with vast expanses of sand and dunes, an area where the heat-resistant firefighters will have to do their utmost to stay in the race.
Next weekend, the truck will travel from Marseille to the desert by boat and will be reunited with the team in December to get enter the race. We follow the Firemen Dakarteam from preparation to the finish and keep you informed.
Updates
For the fourth time, the Dakar Rally will be hosted in Saudi Arabia. The longest rally, since the arrival of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia, will take place from December 31, 2022 to January 15, 2023. Several teams will follow a route between two seas during the 15-day race. This includes a four-day trip to the “Empty Quarter,” bringing the total distance to be covered to 8,549 kilometers, including 4,706 kilometers of special.
“We expect high speeds in the first week. The second week will be tough. Heading towards the very hot south with towering dunes.”
– Richard de Groot, team captain Dakar Firementeam
On December 31, the Prologue will take place. The teams will depart from the Sea Camp for the first race. The 11-kilometer Prologue will determine the starting positions for the first stage.
Dakar Firementeam starts with lucky number 510
Dakar 2023 will be another challenge with a new truck, and again new members on the team. In the upcoming rally, the Dakar Firemen team will try to score as high as possible. The opportunity is certainly there now that Kamaski Avtomobilny Zavod, or the Kamazzen from Russia, are not participating in Dakar 2023. They have a total of 18 Dakar victories to their name.
We wish the incredibly strong men of the Dakar Firemen team the best of luck in the race that starts on December 31st from the beach of the Red Sea.
Stronger, better and faster on the road with their new Iveco Powerstar truck. We have full confidence in the firefighters and are looking forward to it!!
From preparation to the finish, we will keep you informed here.
Rally Updates
January 1, 2023
The first stage started at the sea camp today. For the Dakar Firementeam is was a tough day. At the beginning of the stage, there were a lot of stones on the track. Sadly, after 68km the exhaust valve broke, this caused a delay of a half hour. Besides that all, the Dakar Firemanteam had a lot fun. Their stage ranking: 16th.
January 2, 2023
Today, the second stage started at the sea camp again. The Dakar Firementeam had to drive a stage full of stones and bumps towards Alula over 589 km. Besides, some technical issues, they had a good stage and ended on place 12. Overall they are placed 13th.
January 3, 2023
A drive from Alula to Ha’il over 670 km. The Dakar Rally started tough with a lot of rocks, but stage 3 surpassed it with heavy rains, hail and thunderstorms. The stage was stopped for safety reasons. The Firemen were classified at a 13th place. Overall their ranking is still 13th, on 3 hr distance from the number 1: Ales Loprais in his Praga.
January 4, 2023
Stage 4 is a loop from Ha’il back to Ha’il. Total distance 574 km. During the night the truck was brought back in shape after the muddy stage of yesterday. Unfortunately the team crashed just before waypoint 2. The team is okay and could finish the route and ended as 18th. They dropped 2 places in the general ranking to 15th. The team is one of the many teams that is facing problems during this extremely tough edition.
January 5, 2023
The day after the crash. During the night, the mechanics repaired the heavy damage truck. An incredible job is done. The Iveco could start again for stage 5 from Ha’il to Ha’il. Around 650 km through sandy desert terrain. The team ended on place 16 and climbing to position 14 in the general ranking.
January 6, 2023
A revised stage. Due to an overload of water in the bivouac, the route is now heading to Riyadh, instead of Al Duwadimi. The longest stage of the Dakar Rally is now even longer: 919 km! De race ended well for the Firemen Dakarteam. They ended on place 10, the first top 10 position this rally. In the overall ranking the team climbs from 14th to 13th position.
January 7, 2023
The stages 7 and 8 are combined into a marathon stage, due to bad weather conditions. The first part is driven on the 7th of January. After the stage there are only 2 hours to prepare the truck for the rest of the stage on January 8th. Then there are more heavy kilometers. The day went well, without real problems. The team saved the truck for the second part.
0anuary 8, 2023
From Al Duwadimi back to Riyadh. It is difficult to navigate over this stage full of gravel, stones, sand and dunes. There were some setbacks: two tyre punctures and suspension problems. The speed needed to be lowered on some parts of the route. This caused that the team ended on place 17. Overall the team is still on 13th place.
January 9, 2023
There is no rally today. Some time to relax and do maintenance. The rally is just a little over half. But the most feared stages are in the second week, The Empty Quarter. A desert area almost the size of France.
January 10, 2023
Stage number 9 from Riyadh to Haradh a drive over 600 km of which are 358 km timed in the race. The track was heavy due to mud and sand. Some parts of the route looked like a river. Many drivers got stuck in the mud. Our team finished on place 21, overall the team gained one place and is now 12th overall due to a withdrawel of one of the truck in front of the ranking.
January 11, 2023
The race in the Empty Quarter means a lot of heavy sand. There were 114 timed kilometers. The Firemen Dakarteam showed a very good performance and ended on place 7. In the overall ranking the team is now on place 9.
January 12, 2023
Stage 11, again heavy. A marathon through the Empty Quarter. The race is over 274 kilometers. We can be proud of the team with a position 6 at the finish line. Overall the team is stable on place number 9.
January 13, 2023
The team is in an incredible flow. On the stage through the Empty Quarter over 185 km of racing they ended 7th. Overall the team gained again one place and is now on 8th position overall. Two more days to go to the final finish.,
January 14, 2023
Stage 13 began at Shaybay and ended at Al-Hofuf. This was the best stage for the Dakar Firementeam, they ended on the 5th place!
January 15, 2023
The heat changed into a lot of rain for the last stage day, stage 14. The short special from Al-Hofuf to Dammam was 138 km long. But the Dakar Firementeam made the best of it and ended at 8th place!
Tele Radio supports the world wide preservation of the Tiger with WWF.