The Loprais team has crashed in the neutralised part of stage 9. The team was taken to hospital for a check-up.  There were bruises and a concussion.   According to rumours, it was not Loprais driving but one of the other crew members who fell asleep.

We keep our fingers crossed

More to follow….

http://www.rtl.nl/(/sport/rtl_gp/dakar/nieuws/)/sport/rtl_gp/components/dakar/nieuws/2012/articles/120110_ales_loprais_uit_de_rally.xml

Winning stage in Antofagasta! Ales is (now) reinforces the overall second instead of

The eighth stage of Dakar Rally brought Alex’s first stage victory. The advantage of Gerard de Rooy became less but with only 1:31 minutes.  Gerard de Rooij still leads overall, bur the orher trucks dropped back.

The longest special stage sof ar was 477 km, confirming the growing trend of special tests .

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Also this stage in brought three leaders. The initial part was dominated by Gerard de Rooy and after 60 kilometers he led  Ales by  2 minutes and others even more. Leter de Rooij lost a bit and Arthur Ardavičus ( Kamaz Astana) led. He lasted quite long, but then he lost ten minutes, probably due to defect. Ardavičus managed to maintain technical leadership and the passage between the second and third controlpoint, when the crewwas busy mastering sand mountains over 3000 meters above sea level.  Ales took after victory in the end, with de Rooij almost within sight.  He finished second in the stage and virtually controlled the overall standings, in the end even the loss of a few tens of seconds.  On his website the Rooij said he did not go flat but used his brains. Stacey, who was and still is Alex’s closest pursuer, became  3rd overall in the general standings but lost a lot of time due to a puncture. He was very unsatisfied.

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“The stage was really hard, heavy and extreme nervous, we are still moved in the range of minimum distances to be de Rooy, which we managed to reach the stage, but to release him ways was reluctant. The stage was a huge amount of dust in it suffered not only filters, but we in the cabin. In addition, navigator Michael Ernst had to swallow problems with knee, luckily for us our old physical therapist, who becomes a necessity.  The stage was literally terrible but the tires, any defect plays a large role in the overall standings. The towers only two spare wheels and finish we’ve seen all the tires completely killed off, slowly separating strip.  If the stage was longer, the tires because we did not get to your destination. Overall, for us in results did not change, our main goal is Lima, “summed up phase Ales for Czech Television.

Winning is nice, but in the overall ranking does not change anything. Gerard de Rooy leads to a slight lead, and Alex wants to stay in touch, and at a new  stage everything begins again at zero.  Stacey at the 3rd site has lost over 48 minutes and is now 33 minutes behind Ales.  Ardavičuse, is doing great but his vehicle, a non-works Kamaz, is like an unwanted child. He has to know his role and probably has to finish behind the Young Kamaz Works drivers.

What can we expect next? The ninth stage from Antofagasta to Iquique, dunes will come up eventually, led to the last, over 1000 meters high, falling from the mountain dune slope over 32 percent to the sea.  

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/09012012/58/dakar-trucks-loprais-finally-wins.html

OVERALL:

1- Gerard De Rooy (NLD), Rodewald (NLD), Colsoul (BEL), Iveco Strator-Torpedo, 23h14m03

2- Aleš Loprais (CZE), Almáši (CZE), Ernst (CZE), Tatra 815-2 a 15m39

3- Hans Stacey (NLD), Van Goor (NLD), Der Kinderen (NLD), Iveco Trakker Evo II a 48m06

4- Artur Ardavichius (KAZ), Kuzmich (RUS), Turlubaev (KAZ), Kamaz 4623 a 58m40

5- Atrat Mardeev (RUS), Shibalov (RUS), Belyaev (RUS), Kamaz 4326KV a 1h34m53

6- Pep Vila (ESP), Torrallardona (ESP), Van Eerd (NLD), Iveco Trakker Evo II a 2h06m05

7- Andrey Karginov (RUS), Devyatkin (RUS), Mokeev (RUS), Kamaz 4623 a 2h11m00

8- Ilgizar Mardeev (RUS), Mizyukaev (RUS), Sotnikov (RUS), Kamaz 4623 a 2h29m09

9- Franz Echter (DEU), Ruf (DEU), Klein (DEU), MAN TGS a 3h11m37

10- Martin Kolomy (CZE), Klian (CZE), Klian (CZE), Tatra 815-2 a 3h12m12

Trucks have been surprising from many points of view this year and all for good. First of all, the race is extremely tight at the top which always gains a lot of good publicity and increases the number of fans and secondly the fight between Kamaz, Tatra and Iveco has brought the colour of the trucks that the sport really needs. What I’ve always liked about the Trucks in Dakar and know other fans have also it to witness another great battle between the names: De Rooy and Loprais! This time around, the battle is between the younger generation. After one week of racing, Gerard De Rooy leads the Trucks with his Iveco while Ales Loprais is second, just 17 minutes behind in his Tatra. Third is the last African edition winner of the Dakar, who is also in a de Rooy team Iveco, Hans Stacey is 33 minutes behind. One of the surprises in the Trucks has been the trouble seen by the Russian Kamaz team through they do hold positions 4th to 6th and in the past Kamaz has been very reliable and again they are; but compared to De Rooy and Loprais, it seems to lack a bit of speed. Tough stages of Chile are made for the Kamaz liking and we might see them get back into the top 3 to mount a challenge.

http://www.motorsport.com/dakar/news/reflection-of-the-first-part-of-the-dakar-2012-event/

Though the Ultimate Race is the Dakar, this year’s Africa Eco Race again saw an old fathfull Tatra competitor: Tomas Tomecek. Overall he is 2nd in the combined truck/car category, where he is the best truck. :

http://www.africarace-live.com/en.html

http://www.africarace-live.com/index.php/en/cla-etp9