DAKAR Premiere
Nearly two years have passed since the main actors of the BUGGYRA team David Vršecký and Robin Dolejš tried the beautiful but also very cruel fame of the phenomenal cross-country competition DAKAR Rally. The coming DAKAR season 2013 will however be much more exceptional for BUGGYRA team, as three GYRTECH racing engines from the Roudnice workshop await their first performance in DAKAR.
“The Dakar idea has attracted us for years. Our experience with the Czech Dakar Team in 2011 was strongly affected by unpleasant accidents (David Vršecký in the crew of Marek Spáčil tried a double somersault on the second day of the race already. Luckily no one was hurt. On the following day the crew of Martin Kolomý was not that lucky, though. After a hard landing Martin Kolomý and Jaroslav Lamač had to be hospitalised with serious spine injuries). This however does not affect the fact that we have managed to find space for using our skills and experience in development of a racing engine for Dakar“, commented on the origins of the development of a new series of GYRTECH RALLY POWER engines the technical directors of the BUGGYRA team Robin Dolejš.
The Roudnice team efforts are further favoured by the fact that rules of the unique long-distance race are going to change towards limitation of engine power in future. “Today ´s engines are mostly around 18-litre ones but there are efforts to limit the engines down to 13 litres, which is already our field of experience from our own races,“ clarifies Robin. “The decision to commence development and manufacture of a “Dakar” engine, which happened in 2011, was strongly supported by the fact that the technological delegate for trucks is our friend Fabien Calvet (FIA coordinator in ETRC), and thank to him we knew about the planned changes much in advance.”
And who will use these engines? “Since the beginning, i.e. since 2010, we have been in touch with the Czech Dakar Team, for whom we made our first prototype with which Marek Spáčil already successfully completed the Silkway rally in 2011. We cooperate with the same team in preparation for the coming Dakar 2013“ described the entry to Dakar Jan Kalivoda, the team manager. “Thus our engine will lend its motive force to the racing special of Martin Kolomý, last year the best Czech participant, whose ranking among the best ten was a great sensation! But there are also the crews of Marek Spáčil and Tomáš Vrátný, who contributed to the Czech Dakar Team not only a strong financial background but also ambition to create one of the strongest teams of the whole Dakar race.“
All three racing specials including accompaniment are already on the way across the Atlantic ocean to South America, the venue of Dakar Rally 2013. The rest of the crew including the technical director of the Buggyra team Robin Dolejš will joint them at the turn of the year. And what will be the expectations of Robin before the flight to America? “Despite the extensive experience gained by manufacture of our engines we could use, we had to cope with the fact that the conditions for Dakar are absolutely different. The main difference is the life of the engines, which must be much longer than the life of our engines. We have tested a lot, without the slightest problem. The boys used the engines in the demanding sandy rally in Tunisia where Martin even became the winner. But Dakar is unique and will represent the greatest test of everything. It is a certain risk for both parties, but we have done all we could to minimise the risk. This is another reason I want to be there and resolve potential issues on the spot. Now the only thing left is for the engines to stand the test and for the pilots to achieve the best results possible.“
The Dakar Rally 2013 will start on 5 January in Lima, the capital of Peru, and will move across Argentina to Santiago de Chile, where this year will be finished.
