This year - the toughest Dakar in the South America
Before the start of this 36th edition of the Dakar Rally the organizers promised that it will be the toughest competition after moving to the South America. And they completely fulfilled the promise. They prepared a marathon competition in surreal terrain. Cars had to make from January 5 to January 18 from Rosario in Argnetina to Valparaiso in Chile 9 374 km, 5 522 km were measured. Trucks had to make 9 188 km (5 213 km measured), motorcycles and quads 8 734 km (5 228 km measured).
Many hard tests waited for the racers. They had to cope with driving at high altitudes. Motorcycles climbed to 4 300 meters above sea level, trucks often run at 3 500 meters above sea level. To make matters worse, all had to cope with extreme heat. Bikers begged for water during the stages and not only they suffered dehydration. Trucks crew had almost 70 C in their cabs. The rain cooled the participants before the start in Rosario, on Saturday at the rest day in Salta and during the final stage to Valparaiso. Otherwise they had to put up with a unbearable heat.
And also those "endless" specials - the fourth stage from San Juan to Chilecito had a measured section with a length of 657 km! Organizers came with such a long special after nine years. The combination of all traps did the hard time to many racers. Quit had to for example biker Marco Patronelli, who defended the primacy from the last year, the car legend Carlos Sainz didn't get to the finish too. To the finish didn't reach even some Czech participants.
But the stickers, whom technique lasted and who didn't succumb to the wiles of the Dakar, fought till the end. Among bikers showed the most speed and experiences Marc Coma from Spain, who won the Dakar for the fourth time. Among the quads won for the first time Ignacio Casale from Chile. Among the cars were Mini specials the fastest - and although the Frenchman Staphane Peterhansel attacked the record twelfth triumph, after the team decision won Nani Roma from Spain. And the truck category? It was very exciting, not only due to the fact that our InstaForex Loprais Team had two crews in the race - crew number 504 and number 519. Ales Loprais fought with the Queen 69 for long time for the overall podium place, but the failure in the penultimate stage meant a drop to sixth place which remained in the finish. The team was able to carve out two stage victory, one second and one third place. For the victory in this category fought de Rooy with Iveco and Andrej Karginov from Kamaz. De Rooy leaded for a long time, but the overall winner is Andrej Karginov which was 3 minutes and 11 seconds before him. It was the closest difference between the first and second place at the finish at this year's Dakar.
The second crew of the InstaForex Loprais Team which raced this year's Dakar Rally in the composition of Jan Tomanek, Michael Honda and Tomas Kasparek, still belongs to newbies in this competition. Although the crew of the Princess 69, the last year's truck of Ales Loprais, mainly gained experience, they didn't race badly at all. Just the fact that they led their truck to the finish destination in Valparaiso is an excellent testimonial. In the overall ranking was Jan Tomanek on the 18th place with the loss over 18 hours. The loss is however distorted, because the crew of the Princess often helped the other trucks on the track -rivals as well as the team crew number 504 with the pilot Ales Loprais.
As the key proved their cooperation in the 12th stage when the Queen 69 remained on the track with a cracked compressor hose. The crew of the Princess helped with repairs so the loss of Ales had not to grow more. But also other Czech Dakar participants were grateful for the help of crew of the Princess. Jan Tomanek and his crew helped for example rotate the overturned truck on wheels. "I am very happy about the drive of our second crew which raced with our Princess. They still rode in a beautiful pace, moreover helped others participants, which makes me happy too," praised Ales Loprais his colleagues.
