Dakar 2023: Aleš Loprais takes the truck lead after SS2 Dakar victory
Aleš Loprais and his crew handled another rocky route perfectly, and after two stages, they move into the lead in the Trucks category.
The Dakar Rally 2023 is uncompromising, as the organisers have prepared an incredibly difficult marathon fun for the teams. For the fourth edition of the event that takes place on the Arabian Peninsula, they have put together an extremely tough route, and the opening days are already proving that it is too much for some.
On Monday, January 2, the event continued with Stage 2, a 590-kilometre-long route from Sea Camp to Al-Ula. This time, however, competitors had to deal with several trial passages in rock-covered mountains and dry bedrocks. They featured a variety of challenges, with several climbs and slopes, very difficult areas for navigation, faster canyons with sand and at the very end, even several smaller dune edges. The stage times show how difficult it all was, as even the best trucks needed over five and a half hours to finish the 430-kilometre-long stage.
“It was a very rough stage and especially physically. We’re quite beaten. We started to feel headaches and neck pains halfway through the stage already,”described Aleš Loprais.
“There were so many rocks again. We stayed focused, trying not to make any errors or to get a puncture. And it went well. Some of the landscapes were really beautiful, but overall, it was so long and exhausting that I just really looked forward to the finish line.”
Again, the truck Praga V4S DKR #508 handled the challenging conditions perfectly. And the cooperation between Aleš Loprais and his crew Jaroslav Valtr jr. and Petr Pokora went just as smoothly.
The risk of getting a puncture was huge, but Aleš drove with a clear head. He abides by what he said at the beginning. The truck continues without any significant issues, even though there’s definitely some work ahead of us tonight. It really took a lot of beating in the rocky sections today,” said the mechanic Petr Pokora.
After the first third of the stage, the Instaforex Loprais Team took second place behind Janus van Kasteren. However, in the end, the Czech crew moved up in the standings to take a stage victory following a 15-minute penalty for the Dutch driver, which saw him drop behind Loprais. After a great performance and result, Loprais, Valtr jr. and Pokora took the overall lead in the Trucks category, with more than a 12-minute gap to van Kasteren in second position.
“The pace is high, but considering how close it is between everyone, we had expected it to go this way. And it has been going this way since the Prologue. We just try to stay consistent, and let’s wait and see what’s ahead of us. The deciding moments will come probably in the second half of the event in the dune fields, and that is what we will focus on,” added Aleš Loprais, who sticks with the strategy the team prepared before the competition.
On Tuesday, the Dakar Rally continues northeast, heading from Al-Ula to Ha’il. The trucks must handle the next 669 kilometres, with 447 kilometres counting as Stage 3. Right after the start, the competitors will go through a special passage that the race director David Castera has described as perhaps the most beautiful 50 kilometres of the whole Dakar Rally. However, very few are going to have time to admire the landscapes, as the crews will face more rough segments with challenging canyons and mountainous routes. During the stage, vehicles will ascend to the height of 1,305 metres, which is also the highest point of this year’s route. Yet, the timed part of the stage should be faster, even though it all depends on the skills and confidence of each navigator. It is too easy to lose the directions in mountain valleys, just like many have already experienced around Ha’il in previous years. Including some of the biggest world stars of marathon competitions.
