More Than One Million Fans Watched Us At The Dakar
4.1.2015
The Dakar Rally has officially kicked off. Over a million spectators came to Buenos Aires to see the spectacular prologue show, in which all 406 crews competing in the 37th Dakar Rally this year were welcomed. Presented on the gala podium were also the five crews for whom we have constructed racing technology. Moreover, the unforgettable podium experience was enjoyed by our very own Daniel Kozlovský, the only north-Bohemia native in this year’s racing field.
„The atmosphere was just phenomenal, it’s hard to describe but I’ve never experienced anything like this before. The people here literally live the Dakar, one could almost feel like a movie star, the interest it raises is enormous,“ commented Daniel Kozlovský, only hardly finding the right words to describe the environment of the grand start. The mechanic jumped onto the start platform from a turqoise Tatra Jamal, number 515, together with the pilot Artur Ardavichus and co-pilot Alexei Nikizhev from the Bonver Dakar Project team.
There was even time for fun, as the BDP team’s boss, the pilot Tomáš Vrátný, his co-pilot Jaroslav Miškolci and the crew mechanic Milan Holáň jokingly got out of their Tatra wearing monkey masks. “If everything goes smoothly, we’ll take the monkey masks out again,“ smiled Tomáš Vrátný.
However, things have become dead serious since then. Still today the Dakar Rally opens sharp with the first stage. The itinerary shows a track from Buenos Aires to Villa Carlo Paz that stretches over a total of 838 km. Trucks will first pass the introductory 144 km in order to get to the measured special stage, 175 km, and then another 519 km to the bivouac. “From what I know, the first stage should be fast and the sharp bends will surely test the pilots‘ abilities. But here I have no worries because Artur is an excellent and experienced pilot, so it’s gonna be kind of a warm-up really. We’re perfectly prepared, yet I feel the tension rising as the start closes on,“ mentioned Dandy, who, like the other trucks‘ crew members, has a total of 8,159 km ahead of him, with almost a half of that portion consisting of measured special stages.
Dakar 2015 - itinerary - trucks ( total distance of the stage /measured special stage):
04.01. – Stage 1 - Buenos Aires-Villa Carlos Paz (838km/175 km)
05.01. - Stage 2 - Villa Carlos Paz-San Juan (646km/331km)
06.01. - Stage 3 - San Juan-Chilecito (542km/284km)
07.01. - Stage 4 - Chilecito-Copiapo (768km/174km)
08.01. - Stage 5 - Copiapo-Antofagasta (697km/458km)
09.01. - Stage 6 - Antofagasta-Iquique (625km/255km)
10.01. - Stage 7 - Iquique-Uyuni (maratonská etapa) (436km/335km)
11.01. - Stage 8 - Uyuni-Iquique (maratonská etapa) (271km/271km)
12.01. – Rest day
13.01. - Stage 9 - Iquique-Calama (539km/451km)
14.01. - Stage 10 - Calama-Salta (860km/359km)
15.01. - Stage 11- Salta-Termas Rio Hondo (520km/194km)
16.01. - Stage 12 - Termas Rio Hondo-Rosario (1024km/298km)
17.01. - Stage 13 - Rosario-Buenos Aires (393km/174km)
