Kolomý Cuts Trees Again Ending 27 Seconds Below Second Overall Rank

- 6. 1. 2015, Chilecito, Argentina -

The extremely difficult and demanding third stage in which Fat Boy again had to make its way through wild nature resulted in the sixth rank for the TATRA Buggyra Racing team. The tempo is mad, which is also seen in the loss of 27 seconds of Martin Kolomý, holding the overall fifth rank at the moment, behind the second ranking team!

The third stage of the Dakar Rally again demonstrated that this year the performances in the competition are very balanced. The Kamaz racing specials set an extreme speed of the race after a half-hearted beginning. First Nikolaev took the lead and after he got into trouble his rank was taken over by his colleague Mardeev, whose final time with the advantage of four and a half minutes over the rest of the field was amazing. Some even speculated that the Kamaz pilots had to shorten the route somewhere in the course of the stage. "When we finished the stage I was really surprised by the time of the Kamaz trucks. I was only calmed down a little when I learned that De Rooy also wondered about that. I cannot say we drove at half throttle but some moments were at the brink of disaster. We are still at the beginning and I think there is not yet time to risk," said Martin Kolomý at the end of the day.

"Today ´s stage was how I like it, but as I said yesterday, the tempo is a massacre. At one point we had to slow down for the roadway was very damaged. In addition we had to find our way through the forest twice for we had passenger cars in the way. On one of these occasions even the aborigines were in danger but they all survived and we only cut a couple of trees again," added the pilot from Bruntál, holding the sixth rank from the third stage of the rally. In the overall ranking after 790 measured kilometres the crew of Martin Kolomý, David and René Kiliáns rank fifth with the loss of mere 27 seconds behind the current second rank time. If it were not for the Monday penalisation the TATRA Buggyra Racing team would currently hold the second interim rank.

Despite the visible cosmetic defects all over Tatra 815 Buggyra the Czech racing special works excellently. "We have managed to repair the intercom defect so the boys could run at full steam today. The truck works perfectly. Tomorrow we will face a big vertical distance and the first visit to the dunes so we will have to adjust setting of both the chassis and the engine. The transfer is difficult not only for the racing crews but also for their accompaniment and so I only hope we will all cross the mountains all right. I personally have some problems with this," was the comment on the traps of stage four by the technical director of the Buggyra team Robin Dolejš.

Before the crews begin their struggle with time they will have to cover the transfer to Chile in the length of nearly six hundred kilometres, including climbing the mountain range of the Andes with its over 4 thousand metres above sea level. That is why all teams went through the customs formalities on Tuesday already not to lose time today. "The customs papers are prepared and we would like to set off around 4 in the morning. The length will place a great demand and in addition temperatures below zero are waiting for us up there and so we want to leave here earlier to prepare the bivouac properly before Martin and the Kiliáns arrive," said the team manager Jan Kalivoda in the third stage bivouac.

The third stage of the Dakar Rally saw a tragic accident of the Polish motorcyclist Michal Hernik, and so the thirty seventh rally will not do without fatalities either. The organizers still know nothing about the cause of the fatal accident as the body of the motorcyclist was only found after his tracking system stopped emitting signals without reporting any accident.

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

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