Loprais Joins Buggyra!
End of to-date hegemony of Kamaz make and defeat of the Dutch trucker DeRoy (Iveco)? Why not! This is exactly the brave goal of the newly established Loprais Buggyra Dakar Forces pact.
Marriage of Convenience
The marriage of convenience just entered into, or the Dakar coalition, is based on partnership of three long-term most successful Czech pilots of the Dakar Rally, Aleš Loprais, Martin Kolomý and Jaroslav Valtr. This trio of elite pilots will fully rely on all developmental and technological capacities of the Tatra Buggyra Team and the Loprais Instaforex Team. "We have agreed on everything substantial, we have a common goal for which both parties are prepared to sacrifice something,“ confirmed Buggyra manager Jan Kalivoda. But as he added, both teams will preserve their own identity and will comply with all their liabilities towards their current partners. "This partnership does not mean burning of all bridges to the past. Due to the victory in the tender Buggyra has adopted a major liability towards Tatra. The more important for us is the fact that Aleš drives a truck of the same make. Anyway, it is more than clear that our cooperation will be beneficial for all, except our rivals, of course.“
Although Aleš Loprais and Martin Kolomý controlled several Dakar stages in the past, their ambitions are higher. "Man must always go forward. We all know that if we want to compete with makes like Kamaz and Iveco, we must follow in Russian footsteps, that is to be able to assess the situation and define priorities. I would not even be against the term team strategy,“ précised Martin Kolomý. "Although the team consists of individuals that want to win, we are absolutely clear in that in certain parts of races individual ambition may be subjected to team interests. The Russians show this every year. to achieve overall success it is necessary to put together a strong team of three equally good pilots. A team mate driving in the critical moment two hours behind you is no help,“ added Jaroslav Valtr to Martin ´s explanation.
In connection with the new project Aleš Loprais speaks about the team of three thousand horses from the Gyrtech stable that will drive the Tatra specials to the winners´ podium. And ideally to the overall triumph, for, as he says, the second in the finish is the first loser. "We will use a unified design, logistic and service background during the competition. We have agreed on testing with the aim of unification of selected components and the crews will undergo joint physical preparation.“
This year ´s most successful Czech pilot has undergone initial testing of the Gyrtech engine, after which he announced start of the Dakar mission. "I must say I have not yet experienced a stronger engine drive. I was mainly surprised by the enormous torque in low speeds,“ commented Aleš on the performance of the new aggregate. His opinion is also shared by Robin Dolejš. "The technological cooperation has started in the right direction from the very beginning. We work on further particulars, which we do not wish to specify in detail yet, for obvious reasons. Anyway, there is enough time to the Silk Way Rally.“
