The eighth stage from Azougui to Azougui was basically a loop, which was good news for all the assists who spent the day in the bivouac. In the end, instead of the originally planned 358 km, there was "only" a 345 km long special stage. Tomeček was able to drive his favored Kamaz 401 into the demanding dune field starting at the sixty-fifth kilometer. The Tatra with starting number 400 drove the dunes very well and everything seemed to be in the best order.
" From the beginning, we caught a great pace and thanks to Láď's precise navigation, we basically flew, " Tomáš Tomeček describes the beginning of the stage and continues immediately. "The dunes were, like yesterday, very very soft, but we managed to drive the set azimuth and got out fairly soon. Kamazes were all around us, but we went our own way. Unfortunately, on the way out of the dunes, both tires on the right side blew out .
Tomečko's navigator Ladislav Lála continues from this moment: " At first it looked like we would get out of it without much loss of time. We jacked up the truck with air bags under the rear axle and the right rear tire seized up. Meanwhile, Elisabeth Jacinto pulled in just in front of us and the two trucks were in danger of colliding during a dangerous maneuver. Tomas tried to make more room, which eventually succeeded and the Portuguese crew could continue. Unfortunately, it didn't help our situation much. "
Iritrack showed that the Tatra stopped around the seventieth kilometer, but it did not reveal why. With two detached tires on the right side, buried deep in soft sand and leaning to the right side…" When I have an hourglass company, I will use the sand from this place ," continues the tired navigator of Tomečka with a bitter smile on his face. " Tomas was trying to lift the car and I was undermining the right front wheel. We gradually threw away perhaps two tatras of sand. Finally a good thing happened and the right wheel had pressure. "
So the situation looked a bit better, but there was still the right rear wheel left. Tomáš Tomeček describes what happened next: " It couldn't have happened in a worse place." I tried to get on more level ground, but after three it just wasn't possible. We also had to undercut the right rear wheel, which luckily was a bit easier. When the rubber finally caught, we could finally continue. We were both very sorry for the loss of time, but we still had most of the stage ahead of us and had to concentrate on its other pitfalls. Due to the time loss, we could not afford any mistakes, otherwise we might not meet the time limit set for the stage. "
In addition to the starting time, each crew has a set maximum time during which they must complete the stage. In the end, Tomeček flew over the finish line with a sufficient reserve, even though he arrived at the bivouac almost in the dark. " It's great that we finally got to the bivouac before the time limit, " concludes Tomeček. " Today we reached the bottom of our strength. During the previous stages we were chasing minutes and today we left more than two hours in the sands of Mauritania. It's a shame, but on the other hand, we're still in the race and anything can happen. We are definitely not giving up. "
Navigator Lála adds: " From that unfortunate moment, Tomáš drove an incredible fire. Concentration was maximum on both seats until the finish line. Our mechanics in the bivouac also got nervous, but as they say – all's well that ends well. When things are going well, life is beautiful. We didn't do well today, but all the more we pushed ourselves and we're here. Tomorrow we will start a little behind, but we will definitely do something about it. "
The ninth special stage leading from Azougui to Akjout promises a 391 kilometer long special stage. The organizers drew attention to the difficult navigation at the evening briefing. The ground should be mainly sandy, competitors can also look forward to smaller dunes.
Source: Tomáš Tomeček
