A successful entering into the competition - TOP 3!

The first stage: Lima- Pisco | Weather: sunny, 24 degrees 
Stage distance: 250 km | Connection distance: 13 km 
Trough an acceptance got 183 motorcycles, 38 four-wheelers, 153 automobiles and 
75 trucks. The whole amount of competitors stopped at number 449, which means the 
amount of competitors raised since last years rally by six vehicles. 

The first stage was meant as a worming-up. However, it did not go without problems. For example, Marcel Schoo with his crew in TATRA PHOENIX got stuck in sand dunes 4 km after start. He got stuck in bad accessible place and had to wait to the members of Ginaf Riwald Dakar Team, whose rescued them from the sand. 

The competitors started their 8500 km long journey and it was only an introducing to the whole Dakar 2013 adventure. The 13 km long stage distance firstly tested the qualities of all the teams a divided the the competitors by their skill. The outstanding scenery of Pacific coast was an amazing background worthy the hardest competition in the world. The whole stage rarely lacked the superelevation. Even though the amount of kilometers was small, it did not mean the drivers did not race at all. Everyone wanted to show the best of themselves, plus it was an attractive stage for fans, so it was another reason why they tried to win. 

On the ceremonial start the first racer was an winner from Dakar 2012, Gerard de Rooy, followed by Eduard Nikolaev from Kamaz and Marcel van Vliet in Man. And right after those there wereour Aleš, Serge and Radim with Tatra Princess 69 and czech flag. But even after them there were the racers quite the same famous and dangerous. From many we can name for example Hans Stacey in Iveco or Ayrat Mardeev in Kamaz. 

The comment of Aleš about the first stage: 
“Very interesting sand beginning, the temperature was over 32 degrees. Everyone started as good as possible, no-one wanted to lose, especially in the first stage. Which means we mayknow about our first rivals. These are Russians in Kamaz and team De Rooy in Iveco. 

I personally did a small schoolboy error on one dune. I was not able to shift. Just before the embarkation we edited the ranking system to me it did not hurt the hand just like it did in the past.This is a delicate thing, I change gears during the stage a thousand times. However, I forgot and the new system confused me. I estimate that we lost about 15 seconds but then we went on the limit of the car and we caught a big part of the loss. 

I could also test my backs during the stage. Tatra flew to a height of over two meters at the most interesting place of the stage, the 15-meter jump. The spine made a sound but everythingholds and works as it is supposed to. It was a great review to the introduction. However, we are at the very beginning of the competition." 

We thank all the fans and greetings to the Czech Republic. 

That the Number 503 must be count and that Aleš is a fighter, was confirmed in the very first stage. From the start they were on a beautiful third spot with a loss of 25 seconds at the finish. The loss may be due to introduction of regulatory factors three times increased. Aleš was really fast. His time 9 minutes 11 seconds could meant the 36th place in the car category! Itconfirms that even with an older car, great experience and a big heart it’s possible to achieve the best results. But it is clear that it won’t be easy. Eight crews have a loss of less than a minute. As Karel Loprais emphasizes, they will need to be very lucky, race concentrated and a lot of effort from all. 

The second stage is the sandy stage Pisco-Pisco, long 242 km with connecting section of 85 km. Hopefully our crew will succeed and that they will pass this stage without any problems. 

Video of the road, acceptances, atmosphere of competition, first impressions including the interview with Aleš you can see here: