Ales Loprais setting off for his second Silk Way Rally

After a promising debut in 2009, the Silk Way Rally is running into its second edition from St. Petersburg to Sochi. Ales Loprais will be its only Czech driver in the truck category.

Loprais Tatra Team headed into a hard work upon its arrival from Dakar 2010 and it worked on two substantial projects. The first one is the new evolution of the current Tatra 815 racing special. Its results are embodied into the special ready for the Silk Way Rally. The latter one is a completion of a brand-new race special with a hood and a concept the will push the technical development of the Tatra specials a way forward.

„We have worked hard on improvements in all possible aspects. The truck is more powerful and provides a better acceleraton, the power output peaks at 1000 HP. What’s important, though, is that the weight has gone down by 500 kilos by well-thought weight savings on the whole truck. We also developed a new, lighter superstructure, using new materials. We have made a significant progress when testing the handling and the weight distribution. Many people said they thought the truck was slower at the tests but it’s only because the truck’s handling is calmer. The stopwatch was right. It is the best and the fastet truck we have developed so far. Now it’s got to prove its potential int he race, Ales Loprais says.

The race itself is the most significant practice for another round of the legendary Dakar in South America. In 8 stages, competitors will cross the Russian territory to the south to Sochi, the venue of Winter Olympics in 2014. the race is heavily supported by the Russian government and it received a support until 2014. Although the past trancontinental rally raids passing Russia had to tackle muddy conditions, both race directors, Semen Yakubov and Sergey Girya promise surprising amounts of sand.

The team is setting off to St. Petersburg in the following line-up:

Tatra 815 4×4 (race special):

Ales Loprais – pilot

Milan Holan – mechanic, technical team leader

Jaro Miskolci – navigator

In all bivouacs, traditionally held on airfields, the race crew will be supported by the assistance Tatra 815 4×4 called „Philharmony“ with a trio of mechanics:

Radim Pustejovsky

Lubos Kypet

Jaroslav Halfar

The media and coordination connection will be provided by the traditional press car Nissan Navara, driven by Karel Loprais, his brother Milan and followed by a well-known Czech photographer, journalist and adventurer, Jaroslav Jindra.

More……….

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