PRONK Marcel NLD 08/01/1974 189 cm 82 kg

Vehicle

MODEL	MAKE
CRF 450 X	HONDA

RANKING

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Scratch	100	53	57	39	43	42	51	42	35	37	-	26	52	50
Stage	100	53	57	37	43	42	51	42	32	28	-	26	52	50	-	-
Overall	100	71	56	43	39	38	40	38	33	27	-	27	26	25	-	-

Marcel Pronk : «Three rallies on three continents in one year !»

The competitors will reach the foot of the Andes on the day of stage six; Marcel Pronk will celebrate his 35th birthday. “It will be a day like any other”, he warns, “even if we will surely open a bottle of wine.” The Dutchman hopes in any case that his birthday “won’t bring bad luck”, like it did on the last Dakar.

During stage three, just before entering Morocco, Marcel Pronk was given a terrible birthday gift in the form of a broken suspension. He could have hoped for better on his first Dakar, but he still went on to finish the rally with a respectable 40th place. For the Dutch rider, who likes “try new challenges”, the top 40 is still the goal for this year. Embellishing an idea in the back of his mind, “to be the top finisher in the team”, even though it will be very hard, because team member Alex Van den Broek has the potential; according to him, “what it takes to finish in the top 10.”

The young business owner experienced the joy of a top ten result this year on the Transoriental (6th). The other race he completed this year, the Red Bull Romaniacs –“a completely crazy race” –, gave Marcel a chance to put in some important training. What he looks for from riding is intensity. But he knows he has to be wary of himself: in 2007, he learned to be careful and control his speed. Overall he is “satisfied in the way he rode two years ago.”

This year, thanks to the transfer of the Dakar to South America, Marcel will be able to say he competed on “three rallies on three different continents. When will a chance like that ever happen again ?”

Dakar start photos on line: www.maindruphoto.com

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