Prague, May 18 (CTK) – Czech Transport Minister Radek Smerda has named Paris-Dakar Rallye six-times winner Karel Loprais, 62, commissioner for road traffic safety, the ministry’s spokesman Jakub Ptacinsky told CTK Wednesday.
Loprais’s name is closely connected with the Tatra lorries with which he was competing in the rally.
“We want to make use of his rich experience and knowledge in the sphere of road transport in promotion of safe traffic,” Ptacinsky said.
Smerda received Loprais Wednesday morning. The details of his work in the new post are yet to be discussed, Ptacinsky said.
Loprais won the Rallye Paris-Dakar riding a Tatra lorry in 1988, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999 and 2001.
Besides gold medals in this category, he also holds four silver and one bronze medals.
Loprais is a trained blacksmith. He worked with Tatra Koprivnice from 1967. After some time he became a Tatra testing driver, later focusing on testing the lorries in extreme conditions.