Leveled third stage and we stay silver

7th January 2013, Monday:
Pisco - Nazca  Connection distance: 100 km
Special stage: 243 km

The Princess with Aleš, Serg and Radim headed yesterday into the third stage of Dakar pretty well and in the sharp pace. Aleš did not feel very well, he started to complain about the headache right after the second stage, which could meant a little worse concentration. After the start there was tricky 80 km long section with high dunes, whose difficulty was as same as the whole second stage. But the stage does not end after that, it only gets way faster. Then are following long passages in the landscape and in the sand plains. The concentration was necessary especially in the last tens of kilometers until the finish. Only after that the crew gets into the city Nazca. 

When the tricky stage is over, we appreciate the fact, that even though the crew finished in the fourth place, it still means in the Dakar Rally Aleš Loprais with Princess 69 is staying second in the overall. They only competitor driving faster right now is Dutch De Rooy from Ivec. He was not beaten until now in any stage. The fourth place, but only less than 5 minutes time difference shows, how leveled is the competition. Nikolaev from Kamaz once again showed his skills finishing in the second place right before the Italian Biasione. How unlucky can the Dakar Rally be showed Stacey that lost 46 minutes and fell in the order again. 

Aleš reviewed the stage: “The most important thing is that we managed the stage. We didn’t want to make a mistake, even though it is the unpopular fourth place today. We did what we could but in some places The Princess understand with the terrain not much. On the last dune before the end we finally made one small mistake. However it turned out well and we didn’t sink. We can get out of the sand clenching.” 

We convince ourselves again how important it is to maintain the concentration throughout the stages and the whole race. To this Aleš adds. “It is not a bad starting position for tomorrow’s start to the long challenge. More than 420 km is the proper portion and we should be ready. We are still the second and we still fight!” 

Video from the third stage, where we managed to catch even get out of a sand dune, including immediate interview after the finish of the cabin: 

The fourth stage 

Thousand and one dune 
Tuesday 8 January 2013: Nazca – Arequipa 

Bikes/ Quads 
The connection section: 429 km 
The speed trial: 289 km 

Cars/Trucks 
The connection section: 429 km 
The speed trial: 288 km 

Last year it was painful for many contestants discover this region. At the beginning one difficult dune is followed by the second one. Dunes are spread out in the desert that can unsettle even the best riders. Stéphane Peterhansel and Nani Roma, both experts for a ride in the dunes, have lost there 15 minutes and risked leading position in the running standings. 

In this time the intensity will increase, for motorcyclists it will be even more difficult. They will have to go down the extremely challenging two-kilometers escarpment. Against him is the famous Dakar downhill of the sandy hill to Inquiqe just a ride down a slide. 

Let’s go and see how the Princess 69 with the crew number 503 will slide today. Hopefully they will succeed. Have a nice Tuesday…