A day off was followed by a marathon stage

14.1.2018

Dakar comes to its second half after a day off on Friday, and again in a big style. During the 7th stage the teams not only reached high altitude, but what is more, they have to manage without external help. The stage is in the mode of so called ‘marathon’, which means that for two days everyone relies on themselves only.

            „It is not fun, we are going from extreme to other extreme, so it is really tough. A day off is a rest only for the teams, the technicians are still in full work. It was necessary to do the service and checks that we have no time for during the stages. Important is to go forward to the luck. It is definitely fine that the marathon stage comes after a day off, because the technique is ready really much better, also the result confirmed that, “ said Mario Kress,  lead designer of MKR Technology team from north Bohemia.

            Seventh racing day is the first one taking part fully in Bolivian. A start in La Paz was followed by a three hundred kilometers long transfer leading to a timed special section, three hundred and seventy kilometers long. Almost a third of it was on the sand, but its extreme is in its altitude. From the very beginning the teams are over 3,700 meters high and gradually climb more than two hundred meters more. Thinner air and a lack of oxygen affect not only human organism, but also the technique functionality. The fastest time was achieved by Dutch pilot van Genugten, beating Villagra from Argentina by two minutes. The overall leader Nikolajev lost less than five minutes, so he still stays on the first place of the overall ranking. Both of the north-Bohemian trucks from MKR Technology finished the stage close outside of the top ten. Gerd Huzink finished as eleventh, Janus van Kasteren right after him. They both lost a bit over twenty minutes.

Currently the leader of overall ranking is already mentioned Nikolajev from Russia with Kamaz ahead of Villagra from Angentina. The top ten is closed by Gerd Huzink and on the fifteenth place we have Janus van Kasteren.

Huge changes are now experienced by the teams on Dakar. Hot desert was replaced on some places by snow. During the 8^th stage, the teams go even higher. The stage from Uyuni to Tupiza is 561 km long, of those 381 km are timed and the trucks reach the altitude of over four thousand meters above the sea; they ever cross the line of four and half thousand meters. They will stay a long time in altitudes of base camps of climbers going to high mountains. Rally Dakar enters its second half.