German long-time Tatra enthusiast Rolf Ackermann drove his T 57 Sport in last week’s German Schotten winterrally.

http://www.motor-klassik.de/termin/sport-42-asc-winterrallye-rund-um-schotten-4078352.html

Czech: http://zlin.idnes.cz/foto.aspx?r=zlin-zpravy&c=A120207_1728855_zlin-zpravy_sot

English: http://zlin.idnes.cz/vzacna-sbirka-hanzelky-a-zikmunda-se-stehuje-ze-zlinskeho-zamku-pwh-/zlin-zpravy.aspx?c=A120207_1728855_zlin-zpravy_sot

Rain and snow led Dakar Rally officials to cancel the event’s 400-plus-mile sixth stage, scheduled originally to run on Friday, Jan. 6.

The weather affected the course between Fiambala and Copiapo. The cancelation comes on the heels of bad weather on Wednesday that forced officials to shorten stage five.

“Due to the bad weather continuing over the Andes Cordillera, the Chilean authorities were forced to close, for the night, the border at Paso de San Francisco, situated at 4,700 meters,” officials said.

“Because of the unfavorable conditions, added to the fact that the course has been hit by rain and snow, the organizers have decided to guarantee the security of the competitors and those following the rally.”

In the second fast stage, Loprais stayed close with the leaders of the race. He finished 5^th and became 6th place overall.

The Stage in San Rafael was more substantial than the initial warm-up menu. The 295 km long special, which followed the poisonous, almost 500 km long shift, competitors climbed to an altitude of 2000 meters and the reservation Nihuil, know also the first dune mountains. The local gray dunes are the traditional coloring of this South American Dakar. Ales started the stage from 10^th position until he gradually improved. The third checkpoint he was eighth, but then accelerated stage and finished fifth, just 6 minutes behind winner Gerard de Rooy, who his bonneted Iveco Powerstar had to chase a stage victory with MAN Franz Echter , but he lost at the end of 20 minutes and fell in the overall pořadí. The race was a hard battle between two teams: Iveco de Rooy and Veka MAN. Their duel, however, was eventually shared by the young pilots Kamaz, Nikolayev and Ajrat Mardějev who broke into the first quad of overall standings, Ales is followed. Gradually, however, recruit additional delays – going well so far lost Dutchman van Ginkel and van den Brink and the GINAF, Echter said.

The third stage in San Juan will offer again very short, only 203 km long special with quite a technical course in the foothills of the Andes. Broken profile special, slow, could collide with the ambitions of the rather fast Dutch crews. We’ll see whether it will suit the traditional Tatra chassis.

Have a look at the 2012 Tatra events calendar.

Most urgent subject is the subscription of the 2012 TFI meeting in Zbiroh/CZ, which closes in the third week of January!

http://www.tatraworld.nl/events-calendar/

Ales Loprais was able to finally forget about his 10th stage retirement at the 2011 Dakar Rally when he went to Russia later the same year and won the Silk Way Rally, held in Kamaz’s own backyard. As well as proving his Tatra truck can match the Kamaz machines, the Czech driver also has a family pedigree at the Dakar that simply must be respected. Karel Loprais, a multiple Dakar champion, is Ales’ uncle. Ales has a long way to go before he can match his achievements but he is determined to stay in the hunt up right up until the finish. This will mean a relaxed 32nd birthday for Ales on the ninth stage. To fully focus on a successful Dakar, Ales has even quit his other passion of downhill skiing. Sharing the Tatra with Ales will be mechanic Petr Almasi and navigator Ernst Michal. The Tatra truck for the 2012 Dakar is said to be lighter, more aerodynamic and more reliable than the model that raced last year.

http://loprais.cz/loprais/index.php?obsah=clanky

Loprais won’t be the only Tatra. Not less than four other Tatras will compete:

The Dakar Rally, held every January, is the longest and toughest motorsport event in the world, where bikes, cars and trucks race for 15 days covering over 9000km across south America, through  some of the harshest environments on earth.

Out of three hundred entrants for the 2012 Dakar only three British riders were accepted to compete; Toby Younger (No. 187) and Jago Pickering(No. 180) with Team Desert Rose Racing and Stan Watt (No. 60) Team Frontrow GB).

The Desert Rose Racing Team will use a Malcolm Douglas supplied and built Tatra truck as  support vehicle.

http://www.dakarteamgb.com/london-d-day/

6 November 2011, Los Angeles, California (Sent to TW by Dydia DeLyser)

On a rare, rainy Sunday in Los Angeles a group of three Tatras arrived at the “Best of France and Italy” car show, transforming what is locally known as the “Frog and Pizza Show” into the “Frog, Pizza, and Knedlick Show.”

Present when the sun came out were a 1941 T87 (owned by Dydia DeLyser and Paul Greenstein), a 1950 T600 (black, with immaculate original upholstery; owned by Justin Pinchot) and a 1951 Skoda-built white T600 (with Volkswagen engine swap; owned by David Russell).

Unfortunately, the inclement weather kept three other Tatras away: a 1970 603 broke down on the way to the show, while two others (a T87 and a T600) preferred to stay dry.

While not an overwhelming turnout by European standards, these cars, very rare in the USA, represented the largest ever meeting of Tatras from different owners in the western United States.

The “Best of France and Italy” show is notoriously exclusionary, with a sign posted at the entry reading, “French and Italian cars ONLY” but the Tatras were a welcome and popular exception.