Tatra's First Testing

As has been announced earlier this year, the sphere of long-distance as well as cross-country rallies has become the company ČESKOSLOVENSKÝ MOTORSPORT a.s. Hradec Králové's new focus this year. The company are also working with the teams Buggyra and Svoboda Tatra Team. It is Svoboda's team with whom Michal Matějovský took part in initial testing in the town of Jaroměř on 15th March 2014.

The testing took place in the training terrain close to the airport in Jaroměř-Josefov, and the team's boss Václav Svoboda brought there a Tatra 815 4x4 "Dakar", newly modified for this season. "This year, we are mainly concentrating on the Silk Way Rally held in Russia in July (www.silkwayrally.ru, 4-12 July 2014, Russia)," Václav Svoboda said during the testing in Jaroměř, and went on: "Prior to the Silk Way are two preparatory races. One of them takes place in month in Konotop, Poland, (www.mtrally.pl, 9-13 April 2014, Konotop, Poland), another is Baja Deutschland late in May (www.baja-deutschland.de, 29-31 May 2014, Profen, Germany). It's a very hard track where keen competition always takes part in. Race there is very fast, which seems optimal for us. We, ourselves, are gonna try to tune the car as best as possible during the testing, but the race conditions are impossible to be simulated ... Therefore, the best thing is a direct contact with other competitors during the race ..., just to find somebody in the field to fight with, and to drive the best result."

Gaining first experience with the Tatra 815 4x4 "Dakar" in Jaroměř was also Michal Matějovský, a racing driver in this year's European Touring Car Cup series. "I'd been given opportunity to drive "Dakar" truck first in my life, and it was a rich experience, indeed. Today, thanks to the testing, I've been able to shape my first general idea about what this sort of racing might be about. At the moment, however, my priority are touring cars, nevertheless, I might take part in some of the long-distance rallies too. Surely I'll be interested in preparations of the teams we're working with, both the Buggyra, now testing their Dakar special in Senice, Slovakia, and, naturally, the Svoboda Tatra Team I've driven with in Jaroměř today," Michal Matějovský commented on his participation in the testing.

You can see video from first Tatra testing in Jaromer and TV Show CT 4 Sport.