Kolomý from Interim Third Rank Reports: We Have Hit a Tree and Continue at a Rapid Speed!

The second stage of the Dakar Rally appeared to be extremely demanding, not only for its length and profile but also for the climatic conditions. Martin Kolomý Managed the traps on the route, even though in some parts it was really tight. The interim rank of the TATRA Buggyra Racing team after two stages of the competition is third.

At the evening briefing the organizers warned against tropic heats forecast for the following day. Temperature rose a lot above 40 degrees Centigrade over the day. Due to the extreme weather the original length of the stage for the last third of the motorcyclists was shortened for some of them began to fall off due to exhaustion.

Martin Kolomý and Kilián brothers were tormented by the non-functioning intercom for a second time and had to improvise again. The problem is hopefully finally settled for the third stage by replacement of the old intercom with a new system taking place in the bivouac. Despite this Martin achieved an excellent fifth best time with the loss of mere two minutes behind the first ranking pilot, which only documents the quick tempo of the race. The demanding terrain included a lot of dangerous traps where several pilots were lost. Our Martin successfully managed to avoid all of them, although even he found himself off the track at one moment.

"It was a wonderful ride today, just the non-functioning intercom bothered us again, but we had developed a system to overcome this yesterday already and so our communication was better anyway," said Martin Kolomý with a smile after arrival at the bivouac. "In the course of the first section we even managed to approach Lopik who started before us so that we could see his dust trail. Then we suddenly found ourselves off the track and hitting a couple of little trees. We were up to the elbows in work to avoid a more serious collision. Eventually it only resulted in a small loss. This year the tempo of the race is very quick and I wonder who and how will fall off, for I do not believe it possible to keep this tempo till the end."

Despite the trip off the track the Fat Boy is all right and the mechanics only perform routine tasks. "The truck still holds together, the trip off the track only resulted in a couple of cosmetic defects and all still works excellently. So today we are only up to standard servicing and some trials with the tyres. Tomorrow there is another long stage and stony roadway inside river basins awaiting us, so we have to decide what tyres to use," is how the technical director of the Buggyra team Robin Dolejš noted on the tyre lottery.

In late evening hours the members of the TATRA Buggyra Racing team learned unpleasant news. The crew will probably be penalised with thirty seconds for exceeded permitted speed limit in the connecting section. A similar penalisation has so far affected both De Rooy and Stacey of Iveco and Viazovich of Maz. "We only learned about the penalisation at the late night briefing at 10 pm. It is an unnecessary loss, the penalisation does not concern the race itself, just the transfer section. On the other hand, the organizers care for safety a lot and I understand their strictness in this respect. This is also seen from the fact that we are not the only crew paying for this. We must watch for defaults like this better, it would be a pity to loose a good rank for defaulting outside the race," commented the Buggyra team manager Jan Kalivoda on the unpleasant news.

In the third Tuesday stage from San Juan to Chilecito the crews will have to cover 542 kilometres in total, of which 258 kilometres will be the length of the measured test. According to preliminary information the section is very damaged and stony with flooded river basins but still the tempo of the race will be very quick which will place great demand on the tyres.

For more information search for www.buggyra.com, Translation: www.buggyra.com