Wandering Atacama and our crew with the Princess 69 back on the top of the stage

6th stage: Arica – Calama 
Thursday 10th January 2013 
The connecting section: 331 km 
The speed trial: 454 km 
  
The first speed test in Chile took the participants of the race back to the Atacama Desert. Two thirds of the track they faced sand and dunes. In the other part the racers meet again very fine fesh-fesh sand. Day was very demanding especially after complications, which Aleš, Serge and Radim had yesterday. The crew, mechanics and the entire support staff did not sleep much. The tried to find a fault as soon as possible, its removal was delayed until the early morning hours. Aleš was disappointed, the great fight took place also within. The more important and admirable is what took place in the sixth and long stage. 

Aleš with the Princess 69 and the crew fought again. In the 438 km he lost for the stage winner just 1:45 min, most of the race he moved ahead him and close second. The great performance was in the end good enough for the fourth best time after the first De Rooy, second Karginov from the Russia and third Versluis from the Netherlands. Distances were in this so long and demanding stage minimal. At the continuous evaluation of the contest is our crew number 503 on the sixth place with the loss of one hour and 51 minutes. The fifth place is not far away for today. The Dakar Rally continues, it’s a long race and of course very treacherous for all and at all times. Unfortunately today was also marked by two accidents. Schoo with Tatra and Stacey with Iveco crashed. Stacey continues in the rally, Schoo ended. 
  
“Today it was very difficult. We swallowed big amount of dust, because we had to start relatively late because of yesterdays problems. So we were driving in dust clouds and had to, sometimes on the edge of the risk, overtake the vehicles in front of us. We were close to win the stage, in the middle of the speed trial we were losing only a few second to the Kamaz. Unfortunately 150 km before the finish our 3 dampers stopped working. However, the overall 1,5 minute loss meant moving from the current 8th place to the 6th. Thanks to that, we are more optimistic than yesterday after the losing the winning place because of the technical problems. We are still fighting!” said after the stage Aleš Loprais. 
  
7th stage: Calama – Salta 

Friday 11th January 
Higher, faster, stronger 

Bikes/Quads 
The connecting section: 586 km 
The speed trial: 220 km 

Cars/Trucks 
The connecting section: 534 km 
The speed trial: 220 km 

The ascent of the Andes Cordillera will be in the small hours, taking all the drivers and teams in convoy for a liaison stage finishing at a record altitude of 4,975 metres, at the top of Argentina’s highest mountain pass. During the special stage, the needle of the altimeter will fluctuate between 3,400 m and 4,000 m, but the speedometer will rarely go below 100 km/h, despite the lack of power which will affect all the vehicles. Still on the subject of figures, at this time of the year and at the highest altitude, the thermometer will display an average temperature of 15 degrees. When all is said and done, the biggest difficulty will be for motorcyclists to maintain their stamina. They will be welcomed in a bivouac which has been relocated for the first part of their marathon stage.