Looking Back on Dakar with Mirek Forman
From the DAKAR 2014 to the DAKAR 2015. While assessing the TATRA Buggyra Racing team's performance after the last year's Dakar I wrote in my account: "... thanks to all these, together with the experience gained in other motorsports competitions, and, naturally, the team's excellent performance they are in with a chance of success next year. However, they must try to enhance their chance immediately, without hesitation!" Now, after the Dakar Rally 2015, Martin Kolomý and the brothers Kiliáns' excellent final position - seventh place, clearly shows that it was worth boosting. They started instantly, and worked hard! This year's result as well as the rally itself showed they had explored a proper way, no serious problem with their technical equipment occurred, the crew and the team had been well prepared. However, this does not necessarily indicate there are no things to be improved. It seems real they might better their position, therefore it seems fairly clear the TATRA Buggyra Racing team's participation in the Dakar Rally 2016 is most likely to be at far higher and more professional level. There really is a lot to look forward to!
The course of single stages offers strong evidence that it was a better TATRA Buggyra Racing team that had arrived to Argentina and Chile than last year. Not only because a perfect and professional base and twenty-member team had been doing their job excellently, but also the technical equipment was good enough to be up against competition having strong ambition to fight for the top notches.
Those stages beyond dunes (in fact nearly all) brought about fights to the death in all categories including trucks. There were just razor-thin margins, the top teams were in just a few-second lead. Having some troubles would have caused a loss of dozens of minutes and fall in positions. Nevertheless, in the course of the race all of the truck crews had to face a sort of problem; it was just a question of teams' ability to deal with them. We could see famous teams to remedy such ones during Special Stages in minutes! It would be a bit of exaggeration, but based on a fact, to say that the dominating Kamaz team did not need more to repair their vehicles but to be delivered to the bivouac just a number plate, and their special would be geared to go on next stage. The crew of our Tatra piloted by Matin Kolomý were joining in good fights against all trucks including Kamazs, however, as it would turn out the quick assistance in case of petty problems would be our crew's handicap. A tube pierced by a sharp stone, a defect and the truck tipping over when trying to overtake were just slight problems that could have been tackled easily provided a quick aid - both human and technical - had come to their help. What was just a question of minutes for competing teams that was an issue taking dozens of minutes for us.
In dunes, when the best teams' margins grew by dozens of minutes, our crew had to choose a bit conservative way of driving, since it was evident they would be most likely to pay for any sort of problem an hour-loss. Famous teams could dare to risk while going through dunes, as the leading crews were sure that a potential help would arrive in minutes. When any of Kamazs got stuck or tipped over, their crew even would not unfasten safety belts but wait a while for another crew to come and free them.
Taking all these facts into consideration, the seventh place the Tatra crew, Martin Kolomý and the brothers Kiliáns, took there seems to be even more precious as to the reliable technical equipment, and the crew's entirely responsible but still fast way of driving. After all, the final standings read our Tatra among famous teams, which had registered three very good crews, at least. What is more, they are teams having long experience gained in this world's hardest rally, no matter if it is Kamaz, MAN or Iveco. Just to remind, the TATRA Buggyra Racing team had entered the Dakar last year to draw some lessons, so it was only their second participation.
"We have clear preferences for another year of Dakar. We must analyse all data and experience to be able to assemble new, better Tatra special. It's the first time we've been able to professionally assess the output of engines, and we feel proud of their performance even at high altitudes. But what has turned out is that we must reinforce our team and have more crews. We're gonna work on it. We're trying to find ways how to arrange that, so that Martin Kolomý would not be alone on the track ... What seems the most practicable is to construct another Dakar special, which has already been under way. We want to prepare ourselves better for the Dakar 2016, and we're gonna get among the tops," were Jan Kalivoda, the TATRA Buggyra Racing manager's words when summing up their ambitions.
By M. Forman, Prague, February 2015
