Dakar 2016 preview

en a Mini wins, a little percentage of it is down to me”.

12/09/15

The winners of the last three Dakars in the truck category, Karginov, Nikolaev and Mardeev, will also be the overwhelming favourites in 2016. But against the Kamaz armada, the candidates for creating an exploit are getting hungry, beginning with Gerard De Rooy, who has brought former rival Ales Loprais into his team.

At Kamaz there is something of a Roger Federer, Tiger Woods, Sébastien Loeb, Michael Jordan and Mike Tyson in their prime feel. Not invincible, but nearly so. In the 21st Century, the drivers of the Russian trucks have won 12 times from a possible 15. On South American soil, they have taken more than 75% of the spots on the overall podium (and 56 stages wins along the way!) with most notably three sweeps of the podium, including last year. The clan also managed the end of the reign of the “Tsar” Vladimir Chagin without skipping a beat, and the team now has a trio of top flight drivers (Andrey Karginov, Eduard Nikolaev and Ayrat Mardeev) who have claimed the last three trophies, and whose average age is just 33… the future seems as bright as their blue rigs.

Yet, the superiority of the Kamaz squad has never sent the competition into despair. In the truck category, the rivals of the Russian drivers are characterized by a particularly keen sense of combativeness. Gerard De Rooy proved that the impossible is not Dutch in 2012! He would very much like to do it again and is wagering more on his tactical skills than his driving talent this year. In offering another of his rivals, Ales Loprais a drive, De Rooy has recruited a new contender capable of taking the Iveco to victory. And the reinforcement in the person of Argentina’s Federico Villagra (12th in the car category in 2014) has given his team the depth that will be indispensable in his bid to counter the “Kids of Tatarstan”.

Perseverance is also a widely shared virtue among Dakar truck competitors with no less than 15 crews having made their podium attentions known. Team Veka Man will run 2007 winner, Hans Stacey, who has come over from the De Rooy Group and Peter Versluis, while the Czech Republic’s Martin Kolomy will look to improve on his 5th place in 2013 and power his Tatra into the top three. This is also the objective of Martin Van den Brink, who is used to flirting with the Top 10 and who will count on the technical progress made to his Renault Trucks. His victory in the recent Rally of Morocco gives him reason to believe. But the in-rally reality is often quite different on the Dakar!

The winners of the last three Dakars in the truck category, Karginov, Nikolaev and Mardeev, will also be the overwhelming favourites in 2016. But against the Kamaz armada, the candidates for creating an exploit are getting hungry, beginning with Gerard De Rooy, who has brought former rival Ales Loprais into his team.

At Kamaz there is something of a Roger Federer, Tiger Woods, Sébastien Loeb, Michael Jordan and Mike Tyson in their prime feel. Not invincible, but nearly so. In the 21st Century, the drivers of the Russian trucks have won 12 times from a possible 15. On South American soil, they have taken more than 75% of the spots on the overall podium (and 56 stages wins along the way!) with most notably three sweeps of the podium, including last year. The clan also managed the end of the reign of the “Tsar” Vladimir Chagin without skipping a beat, and the team now has a trio of top flight drivers (Andrey Karginov, Eduard Nikolaev and Ayrat Mardeev) who have claimed the last three trophies, and whose average age is just 33… the future seems as bright as their blue rigs.

Yet, the superiority of the Kamaz squad has never sent the competition into despair. In the truck category, the rivals of the Russian drivers are characterized by a particularly keen sense of combativeness. Gerard De Rooy proved that the impossible is not Dutch in 2012! He would very much like to do it again and is wagering more on his tactical skills than his driving talent this year. In offering another of his rivals, Ales Loprais a drive, De Rooy has recruited a new contender capable of taking the Iveco to victory. And the reinforcement in the person of Argentina’s Federico Villagra (12th in the car category in 2014) has given his team the depth that will be indispensable in his bid to counter the “Kids of Tatarstan”.

Perseverance is also a widely shared virtue among Dakar truck competitors with no less than 15 crews having made their podium attentions known. Team Veka Man will run 2007 winner, Hans Stacey, who has come over from the De Rooy Group and Peter Versluis, while the Czech Republic’s Martin Kolomy will look to improve on his 5th place in 2013 and power his Tatra into the top three. This is also the objective of Martin Van den Brink, who is used to flirting with the Top 10 and who will count on the technical progress made to his Renault Trucks. His victory in the recent Rally of Morocco gives him reason to believe. But the in-rally reality is often quite different on the Dakar!