The Team Has Left for the Dakar
2.1.2015
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The fun is over and the heat is on. All team have now completely moved to the location of this year‘s Dakar Rally. The last group departed for Argentina on New Year’s Day afternoon. The toughest and the most renowned distance rally is about to start this upcoming weekend.
„We flew divided into several groups, and so most of us managed to ring in the New Year at home. Given the departure date we had to forget about wild parties. Anyway, the final packing itself was exhausting enough,“ smiled our team’s executive Klára Kress at the airport. “As for me, I didn’t even touch alcohol on New Year’s Eve, but I guess this was because we celebrated quite heavily the day before, so I didn’t even feel like it,“ commented the electro-engineer Václav Milichovský, cracking up his fellow team members.
The atmosphere in Terminal 2 of Prague’s Václav Havel Airport was anything but nervous. “We worked hard the whole year. We enjoyed Christmas celebrations and are fresh and rested now. After last year’s experience we already know what to expect, so there‘s no reason for unnecessary stress,“ explained the chief constructor Mario Kress.
While one group left from Prague, another set off for Argentina from Vienna. “Together we will meet in Paris, and there we’ll board a plane to Buenos Aires,“ mentioned Klára Kress, also reminding us of Daniel Kozlovský, who was the only participant to have travelled to the race’s location before the New Year’s Eve. Our guy is going to be the mechanic of the Bonver Dakar Project crew joining Artur Ardavichus. Formally, he is among the candidates to win the much-desired Beduin prize.
While in the last year we prepared the engine only for Aleš Loprais, who eventually finished on sixth place overall as the best Czech representative, the situation is completely different this time. Our team have built racing powertrains for all three Tatra Jamals of the Bonver Dakar Project. The pilots include Tomáš Vrátný, Artur Ardavichus and talented Polish racer Jan Szustkowski. Also, we constructed two brand new dead axle trambus Renault specials for the Dutch Mammoet Rallysport team. These trucks will be piloted by Martin van den Brink and Pascal de Baar. Both teams created a unique alliance supporting each other, and it will be our mechanics and technical development guys who will take care of their condition. “We couldn’t be more ready but it’s going to be tough, so the most important thing is that we all return home safe and sound,“ acknowledges Mario the difficulty of the Dakar mission.
The famous race opens with a prologue on Saturday. On Sunday the crews will make a sharp start from Buenos Aires. The luckiest ones will return to Argentina‘s capital on Saturday 17 January.
Bonver Dakar Project
#515 - Tatra - Artur Ardavichus (KAZ, pilot), Alexei Nikizhev (KAZ, co-pilot), Daniel Kozlovský (CZE, mechanic)
#517 - Tatra - Tomáš Vrátný (CZE, pilot), Jaroslav Miškolci (SVK, co-pilot), Milan Holáň (CZE, mechanic)
#539 - Tatra - Robert Jan Szustkowski (POL, pilot), Jaroslaw Kazberuk (POL, co-pilot), Filip Škrobánek (CZE, mechanic)
Mammoet Rallysport
#513 - Renault Trucks - Martin van den Brink (NED, pilot), Peter Willemsen (BEL, co-pilot), Richard Mouw (NED, mechanic)
#519 - Renault Trucks - Pascal de Baar (NED, pilot), Wouted de Graaff (NED, co-pilot), Martin Roesink (NED, mechanic)
The fun is over and the heat is on. All team have now completely moved to the location of this year‘s Dakar Rally. The last group departed for Argentina on New Year’s Day afternoon. The toughest and the most renowned distance rally is about to start this upcoming weekend.
