Stage 5: Calama – Iquique

Firdaus Kabirov proved to be the smartest crew when they stormed to both the 423 km long stage win and overall leadership. Chaguin run into mechanical troubles lost 22.17 seconds on the winning Kamaz and lost the overall lead.  The second crew home, the young Kamaz driver Nikolajev lost 20.05 sec on Kabirov. Ales Loprais confirmed his good performances in earlier stages by finishing third at 21.25 min despite running into mechanical troubles as well. 

Stage 5 results:

Overall:

Today’s stage saw the top three finishing in the same order as yesterday, with the overall gaps widening slightly, Loprais and his Tatra now 12 min behind Chaguin and 8 min after Kabirov.

More news later…..

STAGE 8: GUELB AGANTOUR > GUELB AGANTOUR

Tomas Tomecek  won his 2nd stage and won 31 minutes on the Portugese female driver Elisabete Jacinto and has now taken over the overall lead from Jacinto as well. 

1  TOMECEK Tomas (CZ) MORAVEK Vojtech (CZ) TATRA T4 4u47’26  
2  JACINTO Elisabete (P) MARQUES Jose (P) COCHINHO Marco (P) MAN T4 +58’39 
3  ESSERS Noel (B) LAUWERS Marc (B)BAETEN Richard (B) MAN T4 +1u47’25 
4  SALVATORE Michel (F) LOUIN Raymond (F) MERCEDES UNIMOG T4 +1u52’41 

Klassement camions:

1  TOMECEK Tomas (CZ) MORAVEK Vojtech (CZ) TATRA T4 24u43’03  
2  JACINTO Elisabete (P) MARQUES Jose (P) COCHINHO Marco (P) MAN T4 +43’55 
3  ESSERS Noel (B) LAUWERS Marc (B) BAETEN Richard (B) MAN T4 +5u50’26 
4  SALVATORE Michel (F) LOUIN Raymond (F) MERCEDES UNIMOG T4 7u20’20

www.africarace.com

www.tomastomecek.cz

After a day out of the limelight, Vladimir Chagin struck with a traditionally strong performance. Winning the stage with a lead of 6:45 over his team-mate Firdaus Kabirov, he also knocked him off the top in the general standings, which he know leads by 6´23″. Up to the present, Ales Loprais has continued to take on the role of outsider. The Czech driver and his Tatra are still in third, 6´37″ behind. Franz Echter, 4th beind the wheel of a Man truck, already trails Chagin by 35 minutes.

The remaining truck competitor of the CzechDakar team, Martin Kolomy (Tatra) and navigator Jaroslav Lamac were serously injured when they crashed their green Tatra T 815 in Stage 3 at km 52. According to official information, “these competitors were immediately treated by doctors of the organization, who arrived in two helicopters.” The pilots were admitted to the hospital’s neurological department of Salta, where they underwent further examination. The two competitors are aware of and the prognosis is not compromised. http://www.czechdakar.cz/

Loprais website comment:

After two second positions, Ales Loprais takes a tight third in Stage 3 and stays only 5 seconds adrift of Kabirov.

The stage from San Miguel de Tucumán to San Salvador de Jujuy was another one of the very new. It made a varied track through mountains gian red canyons, steppes etc and it was shortened for the trucks as scheduled. The second part, run by bikes and cars, was too technical and forest branches could make damage to the cabs of trucks.

The running of the special offered already a traditional menu: that is a close battle of Chagin, Loprais and Kabirov. Chagin clearly decided to také back the time lost the day before when his rear wheel got to flames and he gradually extended his lead to almost seven minutes. Ales loprais held the second place for the whole special, keeping a gap ahead of Kabirov of about 20-40 seconds. At the end of the Stage, kabirov pushed hard and Ales was slowed down by a group of slower cars. It was the very end of the stage and passing would have been too risky. So, overall, Ales dropes to third place but only 5 seconds adrift of kabirov. The fourth truck, German Echter at the wheel of a MAN, drives some 35 minutes adrift of the race leader. These tight gaps refer to a fierce battle, as opposed to Dakar 2010 where already stage 3 sent competitors to dunes.

„Today it was one of the most magnificent stages I have ever driven, over high mountains, canyons and rocks like from novels of Karl May, from green steppes to beautiful lakes, with high altitude differences. From the very beginning we chased with kabirov who started ahead of us. We made our way to the sight distance and kept it until the end of the stage when we got stuck behind the group of small cars. Passing at the end of the stage would have been too risky, so I slowed down and kabirov grabbed our second place. But never mind, the whelo desert of Atacama is ahead of us and real difeerences will be made there. Over here, we can only lose and that is why it is necessary to stay really focused,“ Ales Loprais said.

It was the young Kamaz driver, Nikolaev, to finish fourth, ahead of Echter and the water carrier of kamaz, mardeev. Both remaining trucks of Team de Rooy made a decent result in TOP 10, whereas another tatra driver, Andre Azevedo of Brasil, lost some time due to small technical troubles.

In Stage 4, all competitors will cross the Andes to Chile and awaiting them is the highlight of the rally, the Atacama desert, which is to host six gruelling specials where most probably the race will be decided.

 Stage 3 results:

Overall:

We have been informed that Marek Spacil had to retire his green T815 yesterday and has officially retired. He finished 6th in the first stage but could not continue. His teammate Martin Kolomý will now keep the green flag of www.czechdakar.cz flying

The fight between Elisabete Jacinto and Tomas Tomecek continued. Today Tomecek won and in the next stages this battle should last as the Czech is keen on this terrain and the Portuguese has a revenge to take. But THE surprise of the day happened at the bivouac this morning when the Hungarian driver, Miklos Kovac arrived… Disappeared from the second stage when the front part of his truck was destroyed at km 70, after huge efforts, the N_ 400 is on his way to Mauritania. Congratulations to the Qualisport mechanics who did an amazing job!

At the end of the stage, a long liaison will drive competitors to the border between Morocco and Mauritania. From tomorrow, the race will take a new face in the Sahara sand dunes…

Etape / Leg 6 GREID LAREICH / BOULANOUAR
Secteur Sélectif / Selective Section – 183 km – 03/01/2011

In today’s stage, Chaguin led till the end, well almost. He lost valuable time but still managed to finish 5th dropping him to 3rd overall, 22 seconds behind stage winner Kabirov and 13 seconds behind runner-up Ales Loprais.

OVERALL:

Ales Loprais starts 2011 Dakar rally with 2nd position in the opening special 
 
  
  The New Year’s Day gave warm welcomes to all participants of the Dakar rally. Ales Loprais opened it on the same position as last year: 2nd.

The initial special was 222 kilometers long. Even before the start of the car special it was hit by heavy rains, which made the surface slippery. The organisers made a good balance between fast and technical sections. and the best pilots praised it well. Especially in the final part, the track was particularly slidy for trucks, which even placed greated demands on focus and concentration of the pilots. Even a slight mistake could cause leaving the track and even wreck all hopes in the rally. Ales Loprais started the special 5th with the starting number 504. At WP1, it was Gerard de Rooy to clock the fastest time, only 14 seconds ahead of Chagin, Ales was 3rd, only 3 seconds behind the Russian. At km 72, de Rooy stopped and Ales took over his position, staying second for the remaining part of the special and maintaining a tiny one-minute lead over Kabirov, anothe elite Kamaz pilot.

So, the opening test was driven by Ales at a very solid pace. Ales finished just between Chagin and Kabirov who is being persued by the young Eduard Nikolaev. Ales finished 4m41s behind Chagin and 1m11s ahead of Kabirov. Right behind Kabirov and Nikolaev, it was two more Tatra trucks of Andre Azevedo and Marek Spacil. A surprise in the standings came 9th with Matthias Behringer on a production MAN. Overall, the rally started for Ales exactly it di last year. Hopefully the further process of the race will be different from Dakar 2010…

„It was a beautiful stage and definitely not an easy one at all. Sometimes it was with a bit of adrenaline when Tatra jumped 20 metres long after a jump at 130 kph. The second place is a nice opening but only an opening. we must keep in mind the race is 16 days long and anything can happen any time. We must stay focused,“ Ales Loprais said.

A huge disappointment came for Dutch fans as three of elite drivers from the Netherlands were forced to quit already in the opening stage. First it was Wuf Van Ginkel who had an accident on the highway, going to the start of the special. the truck was damanegd badly and Van Ginkel sadly was not able to race at all. then, it was Hans Bekx who tipped his truck on the side. Last but not least, Gerard de Rooy, one of the greatest contenders for the Kamaz squad, made a jump and renewed his back injury from Silk Way Rally 2009. A sad end for a driver who presented brand-new trucks for his comeback and was definitely one of the favorites.

„We feel very sorry for our friend Gerard de Rooy. He was definitely a tough rival but also someone we discussed with sthe strategy how to face the Kamaz team. in this battle we lost a close ally but of course we cannot give up. Gerard and both hans and wuf will be surely missed, they had much to say in this year’s Dakar,“ Ales added.

So, a bit of nervousness of a kind of sprinters in the opening week of the Tour de France. The next special is totally new. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

(Source: www.loprais.cz)

Russian ”Czar” Vladimir Chagin won today’s 2nd stage, his 57th Dakar stage win, leading Ales Lopais by 4.41 minutes. Chagins teammates Firdaus Kabirov and Eduard Nikolaev finished  3rd and 4th before Brasilian Andre de Azevedo (Tatra) and Marek Spacil (Tatra). With three Tatras in the top six, an astonishing result!

Well known Dutch contenders Gerard de Rooy (back injury), Wuf van Ginkel (crash) and Hans Bekx (crash) all had to retire.