Coronel duo take on the Dakar once again

ready for the 21 day sea voyage

Late last week 645 vehicles passed the mandatory technical and administrative checks at the Port of Le Havre, in what is affectionately known as the start before the start of the Dakar Rally. The following day they set out for Argentina where the race will start on January 4, 2015.

Since Dakar's switch to South America in 2009, the Port of Le Havre, France's second largest port, has become kind of a right off passage. It provides the participants some time to catch up on one another, while the fans relish on the unique opportunity to see the vehicles and competitors from up close.

Amongst these competitors were the good humored Dutch duo known as Tim and Tom Coronel. After a 6 year long hiatus from both entering the Dakar, they have decided to return each in his own single place buggy. Though the twins lead their own lives, occasionally their fates cross paths as both share the same passion for racing.

Tim Coronel is the more experienced in the Dakar, having had two class victories (2010-2011) in the single-place buggy. Tom Coronel, on the other hand, is a force to be reckoned with in WTCC, but while he admits to have met his goal, when he completed the Dakar in 2009, he could not pass up the opportunity to share the adventure with his brother. And to make things more interestingly, RTL 7 (a well-known Dutch broadcaster) have signed Tom to deliver daily filmed reports.
In his own words: "I will be their race reporter and I will stop when I come across a nice story to tell."

The single seater buggies are build by Rally Raid Special. Each one is powered by a Suzuki Hayabusa 1350 cc 4 cylinder engine that puts out about 240 bph, and propels the buggy to a top speed of 180 km per hour. It weighs a mere 780 kg (without driver) and is 3.25 meters long by 2 meters wide. The suspension is by Reiger and the shoes are by Maxxis Trepator, who is also the team's main sponsor.

Below a couple of pictures of their shop in the Netherlands, where everything was double checked at least a couple of times.












To cover the 9,000 km race through Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, the twins will undoubtedly need a great deal of spares, such as tires and most probably a couple of Suzuki Hayabusa 4 cylinder engines.

Of course, the supply truck forms an integral part of any Dakar rally team. Theirs will be driven by Han Kuiper, Niels Beck and Ed Hijstek.

For more info on the Maxxis Dakar Team, please click here.

The Grande Amurgo, the 200-meter long cargo ship that will carry its load of 645 race, assistance, press and organization vehicles, is scheduled to arrive at the Euro America Port of Buenos Aires on December 31. To follow the sea voyage on Marine Traffic, click here.

Please check back for more updates as they become available. And click here for the blog "Gordon takes on Dakar", published by FulTrot in 2013.


Source: Maxxis Team Dakar, Dakar Rally.
Photo credit: Maxxis Team Dakar, Tom Coronel.