The rest day of the Dakar Rally has sometimes been more restless for Tim and Tom Coronel. In Ha’il’s bivouac, however, the brothers and the team can enjoy relative peace. There is always work on The Beast, but there are not many details, says Tim. “I am very content.” In previous years it did happen that half the car had to be rebuilt. This is not the case now. “The boys have everything under control,” says Tim over a cup of chicken soup. “I see peace, I see passion and that is what I like to see. I hardly interfered with it either. I always check the wearing parts, especially to be able to anticipate, but everything looks great. ”

It was therefore a quiet day for himself. Tim could sleep in, have a cup of coffee at his leisure, engage with his social media and prepare for the second week of Dakar 2021, which starts with a marathon stage. “I enter the second week with great confidence,” he says.

“We are allowed to build up a little more speed, but above all we must also ensure that we do not sacrifice too much speed ourselves due to small problems. If we can stop us from losing unnecessary time and take advantage of the mistakes of others – because there are still a lot going on ahead of us – we can still gain quite a few places. More speed can also mean that we don’t have too many trucks in front of us, because they make it considerably more difficult to drive. ”

That is not yet possible for tomorrow. When Tim and Tom Coronel kick on The Beast at 10.51 am local time (8.51 in the Netherlands), nine trucks have already started the seventh stage in front of them.