Punctures did not stop Buggyra Racing drivers from improving
Tuesday’s difficult stage proved as a real test for the team and the vehicles on the rocky roads again. Both crews had lost some time with punctures and changing tyres. Yet, Josef Macháček managed to do his personal best to finish 16th, while Martin Šoltys moved to the 8th place in the standings.
The 3rd stage of the Dakar Rally brought another portion of 400 timed kilometres, out of which 95% was on the sand. According to organisers, this stage offered one of the most beautiful sceneries with the route going through a national park. But there were rocky parts as well. And this time, that played its role in Buggyra Racing’s day.
Martin Šoltys and his crew had to change the tyre in the first half of the timed stage. Their truck finished in 13th place. “Unfortunately, due to yesterday’s result, we started a little back and for our first 100 kilometres, we saw only dust. We had to risk a bit, which gave us a tyre puncture. The middle part of the stage was fine, but by the end, we began catching up with the bikes and that’s very uncomfortable in a truck. Also, we drove against the sun, so I hope we didn’t run over anybody,” said the Tatra Phoenix driver.
Josef Macháček started from 29th position today and had some catching up to do. He was already on a nice 15th place before the final part of the stage, not much behind the TOP 10. However, he and Vlastimil Tošenovský had to deal with a tyre puncture as well, which affected the final result. “Whoever tried to go really fast, had to change the tyre. There was lots of wandering around today, but Vlastimil did a great job. The Can-Am worked well too, it drives beautifully. We had to change only one tyre, but considering the whole stage, I’m surprised it wasn’t worse,” said the 5-time Dakar winner about today.
Siarhei Viazovich leads the Trucks category. The Belarussian driver finished 2nd today, but his Monday’s win is still enough for him to lead with his MAZ with GYRTECH engine.
The Dakar Rally continues on Wednesday with a route from Neom to Al Ula. The drivers are going to face 676 kilometres, out of which 453 will be timed. The timed segments are getting longer and longer and once again, the organisers are promising difficult navigation and rough terrain with possible punctures. Most of the stage will consist of rocks and sand.
