Macík moved to second place in Dakar, Prokop is ninth

Czech Iveco truck pilot Martin Macík.

Big Shock! Racing, ČTK

Today, the organizers prepared the longest stage of the whole year for the Dakar racers. When moving to Riyadh, they had to complete 813 km, the special stage measured 337 km.

“We drive so many kilometers on the edge of the knife and we finish four in 22 seconds,” Macík’s navigator František Tomášek shook his head. “It’s really rough. For a long time it looked like we would be better off, but the fourth place is also good,” said Macík, who was also helped to move forward by the technical problems of the second Sergei Vjazovich from Belarus.

However, Macík managed to beat Russian Anton Šibalov by more than three minutes and is now 35 seconds ahead of him in the standings. He loses 26:22 minutes to leader Sotnikov.

Buggyra in the 3rd stage of the Dakar Rally

Buggyra media

“It was a huge advantage that we drove without dust. We took off after two minutes, it also helped us. We flew as we could. It was fast. Navigation-intensive stage, in the canyons, but Fery gave a great performance, only once did we “We drove more carefully in the dunes. I was afraid after three trucks went to the booth yesterday. It could be accelerated there. But the rest of the stage is in full swing,” said the Big Shock driver! Racing.

Martin Šoltys set the eighth time among the trucks, Jaroslav Valtr was ninth and Aleš Loprais was eleventh, who is still fifth.

No big loss, Prokop breathed

Prokop set the twelfth time and improved by one position overall. “It was a so-called crossing erzeta and we drove really fast, practically still only at six and we just changed courses. It was very fast, but before the finish the organizer did not forgive the navigation complications. Twice we were looking for the right way, we shot a little there, but “It was fine. No big loss,” said Prokop.

The leader of the car category is still the Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel. The third stage triumph in a row was scored by Nasir al-Attiya from Qatar, but he defeated Peterhansel by only eleven seconds. The 13-time Dakar winner has five minutes to his longtime rival. Miroslav Zapletal was 22nd today and is currently 18th.

Jan Brabec on top of a dune.

Hamad I Mohammed, Reuters

Brabec starts in his fourth Dakar and so far he has progressed to the best result. Today he was behind the fastest Joan Barreda from Spain by 10:25 minutes and after a partial maximum he moved to the 23rd place.

“I was doing well. Before the start I found out that my oil was a bit leaking, so I was a little nervous, but fortunately it wasn’t so much. The motorbike finished well,” Brabec told ČTK. After last year’s suffering, when he was not healthy from the beginning, Dakar is enjoying himself. “I am extremely satisfied with myself because it was really easy for me,” said a member of the Strojrent Racing team.

The best Czech in the overall ranking is still Martin Michek in 17th place, who drove the nineteenth time as on Tuesday. Xavier de Soultrait from France has become the new leader of motorcyclists.

Milan Engel was twenty-eight today and is currently 30th. Roman Krejčí finished in 35th position and got to the top of the Original by Motul category for riders without assistance. Libor Podmol finished right behind Krejčí and scored the best result at his first Dakar start.

Tomáš Kubiena was tenth among the ATVs, who is still seventh.