The challenging desert race to Dakar – Africa Eco Race – started today. The full starting list is dominated by 3 Hummer H3 EVO cars produced in the workshops of the Offroadsport team. The constructor and team boss Miroslav Zapletal himself took to the start in a brand new version of the H3 EVO8 .
The first stage on the African continent confirmed that the enormous efforts of the mechanics (and Christmas holidays in overalls) from Dřevohostice led by Mirko Zapletal paid off! The first stage victory was won by the team of Jacky Loomans driving a Toyota, but the next 3 places in a row belong to our H3 . Mirek Zapletal, navigated by the Polish navigator Bartlomiej Boba , took the 4th place with a loss of 9:21 min.
Today's stage, 646 km long with a special stage of 117 km, was very fast, mostly stony. A warm-up lap that almost proved fatal for our crew. The new car flew into an unmarked hole and the new Hummer almost overturned. Fortunately, Mirek Zapletal managed the unexpected situation. Not so favored Hungarian Balazs Szalay ( Opel Mokka ), who finished in the same place. Our team continued, then delayed by a navigation error (approx. 5km) and getting stuck in a dry river bed. The crew had to pad the rear wheel, then managed to get out and continue at an excellent pace to the finish line.
The happy Mirek Zapletal commented at the finish line on the first day of the race: " The new EVO8 works excellently and I am very satisfied except for a few small unfinished works. So far, I have only driven about 500 km in Spain with the car, so far everything is holding up and working perfectly. I really want to thank all my co-workers for doing a great job! I am very happy that all our H3 cars are at the finish line and in the leading positions, too."
Source: Offroadsport
