Great Loprais and Prokop, Michek went through Dakar hell. How did the Czechs fare in the second stage of the Dakar Rally?

Czech competitors have completed the second stage of the famous Dakar Rally, which this year takes place in Saudi Arabia. Aleš Loprais, who finished second in the second stage, had a great race, while Martin Prokop gave a very solid performance. Martin Macík, however, lost significantly, and motorcycle racer Martin Michek went through the Dakar hell.

The second stage of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia did not disappoint, but really brought a lot. And this also from the point of view of Czech fans.

Great Loprais, Macík with technical problems

Probably the most successful day of all the Czech competitors was experienced by Aleš Loprais, who finished second in the truck category with a loss of thirteen minutes and ten seconds to the winner Janus van Kasteren.

Loprais is currently second in the overall standings, less than three minutes behind the leader Van Kasteren. Jaroslav Valtr also recorded a decent result in the trucks, finishing fourth and is about 16 minutes behind Loprais in the overall standings.

Martin Macík, on the other hand, unfortunately lost significantly. After winning the prologue and the opening stage, he had technical problems in the second stage, which resulted in a loss of an hour and a half. However, he was able to reach the finish line at a solid pace.

Prokop eighth, Sainz in the lead

Martin Prokop had a decent stage in the car category. Although he lost 19 minutes and 15 seconds to the winner Nasser al-Attiyah, he finished the second stage in eighth position. Erik van Loon finished second, just 14 seconds behind Al-Attiya, while Carlos Sainz lost five and a quarter minutes.

However, the experienced Spanish driver still leads the car category by two minutes and twelve seconds over the Qatari driver. WRC legend Sébastien Loeb is currently in 31st position, with Prokop currently seventh, 35 seconds behind leader Sainz.

Michek and Dakar hell, Engel 39th, Tůma in the top ten

As far as the bikers are concerned, the second stage was dominated by the current leader of this category, Mason Klein. Czech rider Martin Michek finished Monday’s action in 21st position, Milan Engel took the number 39 position. Michek is now 18th in the overall standings, nearly 30 minutes behind American Klein.

“Today’s special was quite dense, again all rocks. It was also a navigational nut with some interesting things. It’s just a real Dakar hell. As far as I can tell, everybody is really done with this stage, because for 430 kilometres it was just rattling and there was a headwind. We’re physically drained. It wasn’t easy at all, so I’m glad to be at the finish and I’ll be preparing for tomorrow,” Michek told Czech Television.

Engel is currently in 43rd position, already 1 hour and 34 minutes behind. Zdeněk Tůma, a quadriplegic riding for the Barth Racing Team, finished ninth in Monday’s race and is tenth overall. However, his gap to the leading Frenchman Giroud is two hours and three minutes.

Sources