“We have a strong package to give it another try”

South America was well known territory for William de Groot, owner and director of De Groot Fresh Group, that imports fruits from all over the world into Europe. The previous years the Dakar was very important for him concerning the business he does over there. Last year didn’t bring him luck however, as he had to abandon in the second stage already and had to push hard to be ready to restart again after the rest day. Saudi Arabia is completely new to him. It has been an eventful and stressful year for De Groot, and preparations for the Dakar suffered a lot, but he is looking forward to the new edition, accompanied by his long time navigator Edwin van de Langenberg and experienced mechanic Harrie Schuurmans, who has been with multiple stage winner Peter Versluis for several years.

W.d.G.: “After the problems we had last year – having to abandon on the second day already – it took us a while to consider if we wanted to try again. My company has been under threat by criminals trying to use the fruit transports for drugs trafficking and that has been a huge impact, as we are working hard to make a decent and honest living. Only at the last moment we decided to go to the Dakar again. Eimbert Timmermans has built us a new DAF truck, and we are with an experienced team, so I think we have a strong package.”