The Dakar - Prologue and Stage One Cancelled
3.1.2016
The 38th Dakar Rally had a dramatic start indeed. The opening prologue was cancelled due to an accident involving a racing car hitting several spectators. Afterwards, the weather had the final say before Stage 1 even started, and so the organizers decided to put a halt to it. If nothing happens, the Dakar will really begin on Monday with its second stage.
On Saturday all crews were officially presented in Buenos Aires. Also on the podium were Renault Trucks specials constructed in the MKR Technology centre and piloted by Martin van den Brink and Pascal de Baar. The spectacular introduction was followed by a 171-km link section to the 11-kilometre special section, which was supposed to establish the starting order for the first stage. However, this was thwarted by the serious accident of the Chinese racer Guo Meiling, whose Mini went off the road, hitting the spectators and leaving four of them injured. Due to the incident the organizers decided to neutralise the prologue, with the trucks set to start according to their numbers in the Sunday’s stage one. Unfortunately, the Dakar did not start in Sunday either, as the competitors’ safety was compromised by heavy rain. The organizers postponed the start several times before cancelling the first stage altogether, mainly because the helicopters flying overhead the racers and providing assistance and medical help were not able to take off due to the bad weather conditions in the area of the special section. As a result, the participants will drive in convoy to the start of the second stage in Villa Carlos Paz. “There’s nothing we can do. We just have to accept things as they come here. The weather is really crazy and I completely understand that the organizers don’t want to take any excessive risks. In spite of everything that has happened though, the team are in good spirits and looking forward to the first real start,“ commented MKR Adventure’s boss Mario Kress.
