Already after Sunday’s test, which was supposed to be just a warm-up, many participants talked about the massacre. Motorcyclist Libor Podmol reached the finish line broken and decided to end the rally early. David Pabiška also had scars, and quadricyclist Zdeněk Tůma described: “I saw rescue helicopters in the air.” It was really hard at the beginning. One of the most demanding starts on the Dakar. It was really brutal.”
Aleš Loprais, second in the trucks, also shook his head after the finish line. “The first stage showed how the Dakar will develop and where the difficulty organizer wants to take it. There were still a lot of cars left on the track and they will experience rough moments in the desert at night,” he surmised.
And according to the description of the organizers, the second act will be somewhat similar to the first act. 430 measured kilometers await the participants, during which they will move to the city of Úla. There will be fast rocky passages on the track again, before the dune field comes to the end. “The decision will be made there,” predicts David Castera, director of the competition.
How will the Czechs deal with the pitfalls this time?
