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Seventh gear section. Marathon pace From Hail to Sakaka.
On the seventh stage of the 2021 Dakar Rally, 743 kilometers per day awaited the breakheads, who were willing to buy all the sand from the Saudi desert with the help of a stop, of which 225 kilometers before the start of the stage, 453 kilometers (the organizers decided to shorten the original distance) with activated. combat mode, and 65 kilometers to a new accommodation, the truth – a lonely, camped, in the city of Sakaka.
The seventh stage of the stage “opened” the door to the traditional two-day Dakar Marathon. In this manmade and technically challenged challenge, stamina is one of the success factors. Why? The team of riders who have returned to Bivuaka after a hard day will not meet, which means that after stepping out of their technical Dakar seats, you will have to instantly become two mechanics working with the precision of a Swiss watch and do your same preventive work. Here in the case of a good scenario.
Once everything is up and running on the track, the maintenance work to get the Safari Dakar animal back on its feet will be done at the expense of sleep and the next day’s efforts.
Road pavement profile: 48 percent. soil, 41 percent. sand, 11 percent. dunes. What does this tell us, given that bivuake will have to get to work when the sleeves are off? Let’s try to unite these ends.
First of all, the crew had to be very careful with their technique and consider each of the seven tires that should be sufficient for two marathon speed sections as a jewel of gold value, because for drivers on the Priority list, the price of each additional tire is in the Dakar currency. – 15 minute penalty added to the team’s final result.
Dakar standards are a very diverse speed range, fast and technically dangerous. Some arrays of dunes at the beginning and end. Small, chained dunes worth adjusting to and changing the driving mode.
Everything else was “covered” with surfaces of sand and earth. In the words of the team’s navigator, “there were rocks everywhere,” which made navigating sections of the gravel road very difficult. Instantaneous course change and lightning response on sandy river beds are two of the “satellites” of today’s navigators. It was necessary to avoid the “hidden” sharp stones so as not to put all the spare wheels in one place and pray to the gods of Dakar to stand on the track waiting for the grace of others.
New day – old song: the most popular hit of the 43rd season on the Dakar playlist “A medley of vehicles on the starting line”
When you think a marathon day couldn’t be more difficult, the Dakar organizers say: “People, take the reins, we will show you right away” and present you with a surprise that has become a common expression of the irony of the life: a cocktail of start hours. Representatives of three different classes in Dakar – cars, trucks, light prototypes and SSV motorcycles – lined up once again on a starting line.
After capturing the best result of 2021 in the sixth sprint section, the KREDA team crossed the finish line in 22nd position, but started from 34th on Sunday. In front of the racing duo, 8 racing beasts competing in other classes waited in this speed section.
Traditionally, most of them, the Dakar giants, are slow trucks. Having turned patience and inner strength into their “armor” to protect hot hearts and cold minds drowning in balls of dust, the Dakar Punk duo waited for the right moment, time and space in the track trajectory to bend.
During that painfully long wait, the racers sitting in the cabins of the cars “ate” sandwiches “and almost to the bottom exhausted the seemingly limitless reserve of patience.
Following the idea of ”We punk, we love heavy Dakar” reflecting the spirit of their team, the owners of “aphids”, unable to keep up with the sport, did not give up and defended their beast forward, fighting against unexpected technical problems. Finally, after spending 5 hours and 49 minutes on the track, at 15:50 Lithuanian time, the crew reached the finish line of the seventh speed section, provisionally in 38th place.
How does Antanas Juknevičius see the day?
“After leaving the bivouac and driving 10 kilometers, we noticed that the engine was heating up. It turns out that the engine cooling system did not work well. We fixed the system quickly and flew to the start quickly. We were 45 seconds late, maybe whatever fine we could get for speeding. See you later. It’s a shame, but the problems of the day also continued on the track.
We only ride with three brake wheels, one of the wheels did not brake because the brake hose broke. We stopped to grab the hose, sadly we couldn’t maintain a normal running pace the entire day.
Well, what, a marathon with its own charm. We are moving into a closed bivouac and will try to fix the car by Monday, “said Antanas Juknevičius, a racer who gave a brief summary of the day and is ready to transform into a team mechanic who will do the necessary work today.
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