Kolomý Reaches the Finish “Kneeling” and Yet Fourth Ranking
After the rest day the pilots started for the first half of the marathon stage with the finish in the Bolivian city of Uyuni. Martin Kolomý, despite some trouble with the seat, ended right below the podium, with just a minute loss after the podium ranks. Martin Šoltys finished the seventh speed test with the fourteenth rank.
In the course of the second part of the stage Martin Kolomý´s seat broke and he had to finish the stage kneeling at his steering wheel. “This was a very nice stage, a pleasant drive for us, with a lot of mud. The beginning was very quick, so we flew forward. In the second half, about 150 km from the finish, my seat broke, so I had to drive in kind of kneeling position, to bring the truck to the finish. We are here, the truck is all right, only a little dirty. We checked the basic things, I am much satisfied and we continue tomorrow, for another 500 kilometres. If it continues like this I will like it, “commented Kolomý on the first half of the marathon stage.
Rosťa Plný, the navigator, appreciated today´s navigation. “Today the navigation was easy, we mostly drove along local roads. Some parts were quite bumpy, with a lot of mud and water. For me the stage was very nice,” said Plný in the finish.
Martin Šoltys, the second pilot of the TATRA Buggyra Racing team, slowly acclimatises to the Bolivian conditions. “Today´s stage was very muddy and watery. But I found driving more comfortable than in the previous stage where I suffered a lot. My body seems to slowly acclimatise to the local conditions, which is good news. Phoenix worked without problems. Tomorrow we face another big portion of kilometres, so let´s go on,“ said Martin Šoltys
“I would say today was a classical Bolivian stage. There were quick roads, beautiful landscape, the route meandering among the mountains. I liked it very much and we reached the finish all right. The boys are now checking the truck whether all is OK for we do not have the bivouac support here. We will only meet the rest of the team tomorrow, after another big portion of kilometres,“ said the Dakar matador Josef Kalina.
Results of stage 7:
1. Van Genugten IVECO 4:10:40
2. Villagra IVECO +02:01
3. Nikolaev KAMAZ +04:54
4. KOLOMÝ TATRA +05:49
5. Macik LIAZ +06:11
14. ŠOLTYS TATRA +56:11
Overall ranking after stage 7:
1. Nikolaev KAMAZ 23:43:01
2. Villagra IVECO +49:47
3. Viazovich MAZ +2:49:08
4. Macík LIAZ +3:15:35
5. Van Genugten IVECO +4:24:05
12. ŠOLTYS TATRA +6:35:53
14. KOLOMÝ TATRA +8:35:58
