Gerard de Rooy
Gerard de Rooy (born June 21, 1980 ) is a Dutch marathon rally driver and manager of the transport company de Rooy . His father is the former Dakar Rally winner Jan de Rooy .
13 years after the accident in which one of his father's teammates, Kees van Loevezijn , had a fatal accident and Jan then withdrew from racing, Gerard convinced his father to start racing again. Since 2002 Jan and his son have taken part in the Dakar Rally again. Initially both started the “Dakar” on a DAF CF 85 and finished it in sixth place.
From the following year they drove separately. Gerard started on his own truck, a DAF CF 75. However, he dropped out on his first participation. In 2004, he came out on the podium by surprise by finishing third. In 2005 he was “only” fifth, but was able to beat his father Jan, who finished one place behind him. The de Rooys traveled to Lisbon as favorites for the start of the rally in 2006, but the team suffered a serious setback as there were problems with the FIA homologation of their DAF trucks. The regulations were previously changed, but their trucks were not adapted to the new regulations.
From then on, the de Rooys relied on Ginaf trucks . Gerard de Rooy, like Jan, could not finish the 2007 Dakar Rally. The 2008 Dakar Rally had to be canceled due to terror threats. Instead, he took part in the Trans- Siberia Rally on an Iveco Trakker , which runs from Saint Petersburg via Astana to Beijing. But he could not achieve the goal.
Gerard de Rooy took part in the 2009 Dakar Rally in South America, this time as the only driver in the de Rooy family. He fought tough competition with the factory KAMAZ from Tschagin and Kabirow , but ultimately had to admit defeat to them. In the end, he was third again after five years and was able to achieve three daily victories.
At the 2012 Dakar Rally , he finally won the truck championship. In 2013, Gerard de Rooy won the Baja Germany in the class of trucks over 7.5 tons and was also the fastest in all classes.
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rooy, Gerard de |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Dutch marathon rally driver and company manager |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 21, 1980 |