Dakar: Szalay stage six report

And the race begins

First day in Mauritania - the ones who know exactly what awaits the unit are saying it is not the most difficult one. Perhaps the stage between Tan Tan and Zouerat was full of everything good, too; fast and rocky stage (on the first 250 kms average speed of manufacturers' cars was above 120 km/hrs), sinking, sandy parts, few dunes and loads of camel grass of course, which made it hard for bikers.

And in case the tough track would not be enough, organizers planned to wake contestants early to start competition. The first biker set out at 1:40 am, while the first race car left at 3:19am. Therefore the camp woke up early and luckily all members still in competition arrived there on time.

Balázs Szalay, László Bunkoczi (Opel Frontera 64th)
"We encountered dust, dust and some more dust, and luckily some sand too. At least at that last part we could see traces of the road. Laci counted: we left behind 63 cars until the end. We had no problems with the Opel, although I made it go through some dangerous situations sometimes, since it was hard to see ahead in the dust. It was inetersting when at the last 50 kilometers we reached one of the Kamaz trucks and we just couldn't get in front. I stepped on the gas as I could but then the truck driver drove with maximum speed as well, the 150 km/hrs limit. He finished in front of us."

Ákos Varga (KTM, 65th)
"Around half the stage my hand started aching so badly that I had to stop and take a painkiller. My third and my little finger broke two months ago when motorbiking. Until now it seemed like it was okay, it hurt only at times. However, it turned out just now that it isn't so. Until I had to stop I was going at a relatively good pace, but afterwards I lost rhythm and slowed down a bit, did not want to risk."

Jaroslav Katrinak (Slovakian, KTM 14th)
"Today's track was fast again, not only scary but dangerous as well. I thought crazy speeding was over after day 1, but it was on again today through more than 200 kilometers. Fortunately I did not fall, had no troubles with the bike either. I am pretty tired due to the early start, but since we finished early there is time to rest."

Zsolt Darázsi, Norbert Szalai, György Rack (MAN, 13th)
"We had no troubles, we flew like the wind. Oh, and did nothing else but overtaking others. The number of trucks we left behind was above ten, we didn't even count cars. It was extremely hard to drive in the dust."

-szalay-

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