The fifth special stage leading from As Sakn to Dakhla brought "only" 204 sharp kilometers after being shortened due to the increased water level in one section. It was a very fast stage, during which the limiter preventing exceeding the maximum speed set by the regulations of 150 km/h was applied quite often.
Tomečka's Tatra started as the second truck and from the first meters drove a precise stage at a very decent pace. Around the twentieth kilometer, however, Iritrack revealed that the starting number 400 was traveling at a speed of 0 km/h. Tomáš Tomeček reveals what exactly happened: " Similar to yesterday, we had to build relatively early. The strut of our windshield frame came loose and began to wildly fence in front of the Ship. It was only a matter of time before that pipe broke our windshield, so we stopped and fixed it temporarily. Unfortunately, this cost us a few precious minutes. " After a brisk start came more technical passages and the stony surface alternated with sand. " Personally, I don't like this type of stages very much. The speed limiter is very often driven, and at a speed of around 150 km/h, even the slightest oversight can lead to a dangerous situation. It's simply not possible to tame a burning truck at maximum speed in a few meters, " concludes Tomeček and adds another smiling moment. "While driving in a strong headwind, the air conditioning started turning on by itself, in our case the roof hatch was opening. I tried to hold him for a while, but when Láďa promised me that he would find a better route, I gave up.
What did the stage look like from the point of view of Tomeček's navigator Ladislav Lála ? " At first it was relatively easy for me, there weren't many changes and Tomáš drove fantastically. But it wouldn't be the Africa Race if the organizers didn't come up with something to confuse the crews. At one invisible turn, I knew exactly what and how, but I probably wasn't strong enough, so we continued for a while in the tracks of the cars in front of us. However, we were able to get back on course very soon. We are talking about navigation in the desert, where driving is mainly based on azimuths and distance. It was even more interesting in the section where you drove through the river. Everywhere there were pits full of water and mud, vegetation, camel grass, simply terrain that a reasonable person would not voluntarily drive into. In addition, the itinerary for this section was changed the evening before the stage and was not completely accurate. Thanks to Tomáš's excellent driving, we eventually got out of this problematic section, and according to what the truck navigators driving behind us told me, our tracks served as a good guide. "
Tomáš Tomeček adds to the passing of this place: " Láďa told me the direction I should go and the distance, but the choice of track was of course up to me. I had to be very careful not to get stuck somewhere, because we could get out of the mud that was all around for more than a long time.” After all, several cars got stuck in this section and became a grateful object of interest of the TV cameras. "
From this point on it was a sprint to the finish line, again riding on the limiter. High-quality damping is a key factor especially for fast and broken sections. " The starting field is getting faster year after year, and shock absorbers play a major role in that ," says Tomeček. " For next year, I would like to focus more on this, because it should allow us to drive faster and more comfortably ."
After a 550 km connecting stage, the racing caravan arrived in Dakhla , Morocco, on the Atlantic coast, where it will stop for one day. A well-deserved day off is on the agenda, which the crews will spend servicing the car and perhaps even a little well-deserved rest.
" The journey to Dakhla was long, and we also drove through a sandstorm ," concludes Tomeček, and his navigator adds: " Due to the unfavorable conditions, the helicopters could not arrive. We drove the connector mostly around the coast, but the visibility was really bad. Fortunately, we did not run over any of the camels, which were countless around the road and on it. Our skilled mechanics, Jaroslav Žerdík and Leopold Paďour, will have a long day today. I don't envy their work at all. They sit in the car all day and in the evening they manage what we broke the day before. "
Source: Tomáš Tomeček
