http://www.dakarteamholland.nl/index.php?op=viewpage&page=151

In the truck category, Gerard De Rooy’s is no longer going solo out in front. The title holder encountered mechanical problems and two punctures, as well as some driving mishaps, getting stuck in the dunes for a prolonged period. In total, he lost almost half an hour on the day’s special stage, losing the command of the race to Ales Loprais. A genuine battle looks to be on the cards, because in addition to the Czech driver, the road to Arequipa saw the return to form of the Kamaz trucks. Nikolaev put his on the provisional podium, 7′08” behind Loprais, whereas Ayrat Mardeev, who won his first special stage on the Dakar, took 4th place, 18′ behind the leader.

8.1.2013

NEWSLETTER INSTAFOREX LOPRAIS TEAM
Leveled third stage and we stay silver

7th January 2013, Monday: Pisco- Nazca
Connection distance: 100 km
Special stage: 243 km

The Princess with Aleš, Serg and Radim headed yesterday into the third stage of Dakar pretty well and in the sharp pace. Aleš did not feel very well, he started to complain about the headache right after the second stage, which could meant a little worse concentration. After the start there was tricky 80 km long section with high dunes, whose difficulty was as same as the whole second stage. But the stage does not end after that, it only gets way faster. Then are following long passages in the landscape and in the sand plains. The concentration was necessary especially in the last tens of kilometers until the finish. Only after that the crew gets into the city Nazca.

When the tricky stage is over, we appreciate the fact, that even though the crew finished in the fourth place, it still means in the Dakar Rally Aleš Loprais with Princess 69 is staying second in the overall. They only competitor driving faster right now is Dutch De Rooy from Ivec. He was not beaten until now in any stage. The fourth place, but only less than 5 minutes time difference shows, how leveled is the competition. Nikolaev from Kamaz once again showed his skills finishing in the second place right before the Italian Biasione. How unlucky can the Dakar Rally be showed Stacey that lost 46 minutes and fell in the order again. 

Aleš reviewed the stage: “The most important thing is that we managed the stage. We didn’t want to make a mistake, even though it is the unpopular fourth place today. We did what we could but in some places The Princess understand with the terrain not much. On the last dune before the end we finally made one small mistake. However it turned out well and we didn’t sink. We can get out of the sand clenching.”

We convince ourselves again how important it is to maintain the concentration throughout the stages and the whole race. To this Aleš adds. “It is not a bad starting position for tomorrow’s start to the long challenge. More than 420 km is the proper portion and we should be ready. We are still the second and we still fight!”

Video from the third stage, where we managed to catch even get out of a sand dune, including immediate interview after the finish of the cabin:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGm5-9DemxM&list=UUWTN58_2I2AAGRQVnUeO7jw&index=1

The fourth stage

Thousand and one dune
Tuesday 8 January 2013: Nazca – Arequipa

Bikes/ Quads
The connection section: 429 km
The speed trial: 289 km

Cars/Trucks
The connection section: 429 km
The speed trial: 288 km

Last year it was painful for many contestants discover this region. At the beginning one difficult dune is followed by the second one. Dunes are spread out in the desert that can unsettle even the best riders. Stéphane Peterhansel and Nani Roma, both experts for a ride in the dunes, have lost there 15 minutes and risked leading position in the running standings.

In this time the intensity will increase, for motorcyclists it will be even more difficult. They will have to go down the extremely challenging two-kilometers escarpment. Against him is the famous Dakar downhill of the sandy hill to Inquiqe just a ride down a slide.

Let’s go and see how the Princess 69 with the crew number 503 will slide today. Hopefully they will succeed. Have a nice Tuesday…

Lucie Houthoofdtová

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGm5-9DemxM&list=UUWTN58_2I2AAGRQVnUeO7jw&index=1

Not a single truck aficionado will be surprised to learn that Gerard de Rooy won today’s stage. Miki Biasion’s third place (+2′31″) means there’ll be two Ivecos on the podium at the end of today’s 243 km special. Eduard Nikolaev managed to sandwich his Kamaz in between them, 1′24″ behind the winner. Ales Loprais’ Tatra came in fourth, 4′43″ down on the Team Petronas Iveco leader, with Pieter Versluis fifth at 6′32″.

7.1.2013

NEWSLETTER INSTAFOREX LOPRAIS TEAM
The second stage, the second place

The second stage: Pisco- Pisco
6th January 2013, Sunday
Connection distance: 85 km
Special stage: 242 km

Once again the beautiful weather. This is what was connecting todays stage with yesterdays prologue. The competitors had to deal with the 242 km long stage, whose brought them more into backlands and much higher above the sea. The same, very good, lasted also the performance of our driver Aleš Loprais and the whole crew of InstaForex Loprais team with number 503. Aleš was able to drive in high, but in his words not the highest dunes once again very fast and he was after the last years winner, De Rooy in Ivec. In the finish the difference between them was only one minute and one second, the sum 1+1 means the second place. On the other hand, something new in the “top 3” is the time of an Italian racer Miki Biasion from Iveco team. He lost little bit less than 8 minutes, which shows how small differences are between this years drives on Dakar.

Thanks to the result you might think everything worked well to the guys, however it is not completely truth. Aleš complained a little bit today:
“The stage was very beautiful, but also quite difficult. A lot of jumps trough dunes, which brings causes. I have a headache during the whole day and they are caused mainly by the security system HANs. It is necessary, but in my opinion completely useless. It hits the helmet from the back. You may imagine it as you are being hit by someone to the head whole morning!”

“In spite those little troubles we are continuing with the Princess and fighting with the landscape. The crew is alive, Tatra drives and the whole team works quite well”, added happy, but tired Aleš Loprais.

He was also modest and carefull trying to sum up his performance:
“The first five drivers are really great. The race will be decided by the small things, such as defects, technic, but also by the navigation, which confused today a few other drivers, especially on the motorbikes and in the cars. We also saw Hans Stacey stuck in on of the dunes. I have seen many thing on the Dakar, so I try to be realistic talking about my position. Plus we are jumping with the Tatra a lot and I sometimes feel my back. Anyway, we are ready to make our best.”

He did not forget to send his greetings to the czech fans back home and then he got back to the preparing for the third stage, which characteristics we bring below.
The third stage
Watch out, the Erg!
7th January, Monday: Pisco- Nazca
Connection distance: 100 km
Special stage: 243 km

The mood inside the trucks may be changed by increasing the stress. The first hundred kilometers will properly test the crews. They will have behind them quite difficult terrain called by the South Americans the Erg- it is a hard combination of duns, that must be beaten by the teams. All the competitors passing the Erg without getting stuck may be proud of themselves. The first reward will be driving alongside the coast in the second part of the stage. However, the relief will not last for long, because at the end of the stage there will be needed the drivings skill and the endurance of the crews.

Lets hope for as good results as until now and lets beat the Erg!

Lucie Houthoofdtová

http://bonverdakarproject.com/czech-dakar-team/

http://bonverdakarproject.com/2013/kdyz-se-rekne-asistence/

preparation video: http://www.tvportaly.cz/bruntal/28013-martin-kolomy-z-bruntalu-se-pripravuje-na-rallye-dakar

Results: www.dakar.com

6.1.2013

NEWSLETTER INSTAFOREX LOPRAIS TEAM
A successful entering into the competition – TOP 3!

The first stage: Lima- Pisco | Weather: sunny, 24 degrees
Stage distance: 250 km | Connection distance: 13 km
Trough an acceptance got 183 motorcycles, 38 four-wheelers, 153 automobiles and
75 trucks. The whole amount of competitors stopped at number 449, which means the
amount of competitors raised since last years rally by six vehicles.

The first stage was meant as a worming-up. However, it did not go without problems. For example, Marcel Schoo with his crew in TATRA PHOENIX got stuck in sand dunes 4 km after start. He got stuck in bad accessible place and had to wait to the members of Ginaf Riwald Dakar Team, whose rescued them from the sand.

The competitors started their 8500 km long journey and it was only an introducing to the whole Dakar 2013 adventure. The 13 km long stage distance firstly tested the qualities of all the teams a divided the the competitors by their skill. The outstanding scenery of Pacific coast was an amazing background worthy the hardest competition in the world. The whole stage rarely lacked the superelevation. Even though the amount of kilometers was small, it did not mean the drivers did not race at all. Everyone wanted to show the best of themselves, plus it was an attractive stage for fans, so it was another reason why they tried to win.

On the ceremonial start the first racer was an winner from Dakar 2012, Gerard de
Rooy, followed by Eduard Nikolaev from Kamaz and Marcel van Vliet in Man.
And right after those there were our Aleš, Serge and Radim with Tatra Princess
69 and czech flag. But even after them there were the racers quite the same famous
and dangerous. From many we can name for example Hans Stacey in Ivec or Ayrat
Mardeev in Kamaz.

The comment of Aleš about the first stage:
“Very interesting sand beginning, the temperature was over 32 degrees.
Everyone started as good as possible, no-one wanted to lose, especially in
the first stage. Which means we may know about our first rivals. These are
Russians in Kazam and team De Rooy in Ivec.

I personally did a small schoolboy error on one dune. I was not able to shift.
Just before the embarkation we edited the ranking system to me it did not
hurt the hand just like it did in the past. This is a delicate thing, I change gears
during the stage a thousand times. However, I forgot and the new system
confused me. I estimate that we lost about 15 seconds but then we went on
the limit of the car and we caught a big part of the loss.

I could also test my backs during the stage. Tatra flew to a height of over two
meters at the most interesting place of the stage, the 15-meter jump. The
spine made a sound but everything holds and works as it is supposed to. It
was a great review to the introduction. However, we are at the very beginning
of the competition.”

We thank all the fans and greetings to the Czech Republic.

That the Number 503 must be count and that Aleš is a fighter, was confirmed in
the very first stage. From the start they were on a beautiful third spot with a loss of 25
seconds at the finish. The loss may be due to introduction of regulatory factors three times increased. Aleš was really fast. His time 9 minutes 11 seconds could meant the 36th place in the car category! It confirms that even with an older car, great experience and a big heart it’s possible to achieve the best results. But it is clear that it won’t be easy. Eight crews have a loss of less than a minute. As Karel Loprais emphasizes, they will need to be very lucky, race concentrated and a lot of effort from all.

The second stage is the sandy stage Pisco-Pisco, long 242 km with connecting section of 85 km. Hopefully our crew will succeed and that they will pass this stage without any problems.

Video of the road, acceptances, atmosphere of competition, first impressions including the interview with Aleš you can see here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT3TVzcBMm8&feature=youtu.be

Lucie Houthoofdtová

More results: http://www.dakar.com/dakar/2013/fr/etape-1/classements/etape-camions.html