Dakar
Dakar: Szalay Dakar Team stage 14 report
The Balázs Szalay - László Bunkoczi finished the Tambacounda - Dakar stage as 22nd with the Opel Antara. Thanks to the past few days and the fact that the duo really was on the go, they made it to be 3rd in the totals. Organizers have planned a ...
Edited: Jan 22, 2007, 4:58 AM
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The Balázs Szalay - László Bunkoczi finished the Tambacounda - Dakar stage as 22nd with the Opel Antara. Thanks to the past few days and the fact that the duo really was on the go, they made it to be 3rd in the totals.
Organizers have planned a tricky track for the day before the very last. On the one hand, dust was making it difficult for competitors to see anything, second of all, it was hard to find the right way in the maze of tracks.
"It was a good day for us , but there was a stage where we had to improvise a lot - said Szalay. - We went off track for some 2,5 - 3 kilometers, but didn't lose much time, because the direction we went in was actually good. We could hardly get in front of anyone due to the narrow dusty tracks. We thought it would be a lot easier on the upcoming part marked in the itinerary, but we got lost. We had to stop the car totally several times, so that we could see something. Although I am satisfied with the partial result." It is just a short stage that awaits the field on Sunday; the 16 kilometer special near Lac Rose, that is rather for the viewers. There is not much to improve on that day, but competitors will have to keep their concentration for that short period of time , too.
Everyone from the regional biker team - sponsored by MOL - reached the capital of Senegal. The first one was Jaroslav Katrinak, arriving at Hotel Meridien's parking lot (that is now the center of the race for that day). Katrinak finished as 19th today, and came up to the 9th position in the totals. He told us that after CP1 his GPS died, and his navigational system was working only at times, therefore it didn't show whether he had passed the necessary points. From then on he was a bit nervous and took his tempo back, because Marc Coma's story popped into his mind. Coma fell out from the lead because he lost his concentration for a moment. Katrinak didn't want to make the same mistake, because getting to the finish is most important for him.
Péter Kátai was 21st today, 22 in the totals. This day he wasn't being economical with energy, because in just a few minutes there were a few people who wanted to battle against him. He paid close attention as not to get lost, and he managed to complete his mission.
János Dési - the other biker - was waiting for him in Dakar, who promised to go to Lac Rose and cheer for him.
The Romanian Emanuel Gyenes finished just behind Kátai, which is not so much surprising, they were biking together all the way. Actually, Gyenes was driving in Kátai's dust cloud. It did not matter though, when they entered the capital. The KTM pilot was extremely happy for having reached Dakar. He said it was an awesome feeling to enter the gate and see how the crowd is cheering for each and every arriving pilot.
-credit: szalay
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