Juknevičius told where the dunes disappeared from the Dakar tracks

The 1979 idea, born in the mind of a Frenchman, was transformed into a group of 182 breakwaters on the starting line of the Paris-Dakar Rally, thirsty for an adventure created by the unknown and ready to compete in three worlds in a difficult 10,000 kilometer challenge. At that time, the people of Soviet Lithuania, who had never heard of hangovers caused by deserts, “measured” the technical characteristics of the newly acquired Ziguli, Volga, Moscow and Zaporozhye villages and the ability of people to sit on them to break their real chances.

The route of the first Dakar spanned 6 states, where 3,000 kilometers of off-road speeds were planned, traversing landslides, breaking dunes, “colored” sandy soils covered with herbaceous and sandy seas, symbolizing life in the desert and camels feeding on camels. The uniqueness of the Dakar Rally, which “invaded” the world of motorsports, was due to a surprising characteristic: the contrast between the development of European civilization and African nature, where life boiled in huts of compressed and dry mud surrounded by fauna. and wild flora.

Dream. Dear. Live it. (In Lithuanian, dream. Dare. Survive). The words are repeated like a mantra to soldiers ready for life’s greatest challenge, transporting them to their dreams, no matter where in the world the Dakar takes place. The Dakar Rally, on the threshold of its 43rd birthday, will open the doors of the so-called third chapter of history to the second year of its stay in the Middle East, where pages of exceptional history “fill” the blank page with fireworks in different spindles Schedule.

A Lithuanian on a motorcycle got to know this adventure in 1996, and in 2003 he decided to delegate six knights in three-car armor, among 130 other crews, to the starting line of the France-Egypt route. Having become part of the 25th anniversary of the Dakar Rally, the Lithuanians were prepared to overcome the challenges of the car in 19 days and nights by “trusting” in Toyota, which had started in Dakar more than once.

Antanas Juknevičius, who set out for his first Dakar in the same year in 2003 and was “sitting” in the passenger seat at the time, recalls the knowledge of the greatness of the Libyan dunes that happened on one of the speed sections. “It just came to our knowledge then. All the time” gas, bottom “that just do not slip, so that we wouldn’t stay overnight, because we could finish the marathon there. We flew into the dunes at full speed and then fell. And the dunes seemed great, great and invincible … In fact, they were dunes of terrible size. There was, you come, and in front of you, a wall of sand several hundred meters high. We follow the fresh tracks left in the sand, but this is the fastest path that leads directly to the traps of the sand trap, where time lost is not counted in minutes, but in hours, “shared Antanas Juknevičius, who is ready for the 12th start of the Dakar Rally.

The dunes were lost during the great “movement”

Let’s start with the fact that during the decade that the Dakar has passed in South America, the dunes and deserts have become familiar, and fans of the sport, driven by a sense of surprise created by the challenge of unknown lands and the desire to overcome the technical and human challenge proposed, they have been disappointed.

In 2018, the Dakar took place in three countries (Peru – Bolivia – Argentina), where 5 stages were planned in the sandy territory of Peru, and the pavement of 7 speed sections, one hundred percent “covered” with deserts of sand and solid dunes. The Dakar trails for 2019 were located in one state, Peru, where organizers loudly promised 70 percent. for the “joy” of the sand, the eyes, the hands and the feet, from the moment the starting line is crossed, pressing the accelerator pedal all the way. Many of the areas scheduled for the 2019 trails were already well known to the 2018 Dakar participants due to the similar route design, but this in no way lessened the challenge ahead, although the spirit of the adventurers was sapped.

The freshman clouds, which were raised by the opponents and themselves, became confusing for the racing cars, the contours of the dune tops merged into a seamless and insidious body and gradually disappeared, and the points installed inside them in 2018 and 2019 demanded many sacrifices. After the incidents, the owners of the “beasts” prepared for the Dakar Marathon Rally were transferred to the military and local hospitals in the organizers’ helicopters, and after finding serious injuries they withdrew from the competition. There were also those who, caught in the clutches of the boundless desert, not only buried hope in the fight for a better place in the final ranking, but also packed the race car’s armor and their self-esteem. The soft, slimy sand turned navigation into sophisticated rocket science, not limited to the competence and experience of each co-pilot, but to hand and footwork that demonstrates driving mastery, unsurpassed for the tough-terrain knights chasing. racehorses to the finish line.

“The arena has hundreds of different states, different descriptions, so it’s better than any other ‘surface’ on the track to sift through runners on behalf of real Dakar soldiers,” said Antanas Juknevičius, who is called the punk of the Dakar.

The AOury – Amaury Sports Organization, which took over the organization of the Dakar in 1994, dictates the venue, conditions, route, marathon pace and time to this day. The same organization has decided to “move” the toughest rally marathon in the world across the Atlantic and “settle” on the Arabian Peninsula.

When Dakar opened the third chapter of history in 2000 and moved to Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, which is characterized by a variety of landscapes and sand dunes formed by impressive gusts of wind and shapes, the organizers promised paths that intersect . The territory and the expanses of its spaces, an unknown civilization, and unpredictable routes equally unknown to all, should have reminded us of the origins of Dakar in Africa. Not only to remember, but also to bring back that sense of surprise inspired by the unknown, led by 182 petrolheads on the starting line in 1979, determined to test their unwavering spirit with the challenges of nature, but the final sight of the track in 2020 disappointed the desert lions. where it all began, into the future.

By subtracting or drastically reducing the number of sandy stretches and dune clumps on the tracks, Dakar loses its meaning, seen and understood by humans, as Thierry Sabine himself is called the father of Dakar. Seeing the boundless Libyan desert, he clearly realized that racers must test themselves on complex sand dunes that “activate” specific skills of the racer and navigator, requiring technical precision that can be dispensed with when driving. on hard terrain.

“Step on the speed pedal and fly where the clear tracks lead – everyone pays. The rocky rock is covered in sand, as used to be the case in the 2020 races, loudly ‘enshrined’ by the organizers, call them by name real and not fool us. The dune is a ‘funnel’ of moving sand, naturally sanded, formed in a hard plane, and what we have seen in the vastness of Saudi Arabia is far from it, “added Antanas Juknevičius, who ended in 12th in Dakar in 2018 and achieved his best at the time. Dakar rally result between all Baltic crews.

Will the Dakar return to its origins, difficult sand stages?

In addition to all the objective reasons (safety concerns, logistical challenges, etc.) to conclude that this should not be expected in the near future, the “invisible side of the coin” is equally important: most of the pilots on the list of priorities in Dakar “moved” from the classic meeting. They do not like or are fascinated by dunes, because they are used to flying over predictable hard terrain, which does not cause so much difficulty and rarely has the property of making the vehicle and its owners hostage to the situation. The changing “framed” landscape of the sand dunes dictates the complex conditions created by nature’s motive to gauge the physical and psychological limits of anyone determined to overcome the proposed challenge. All this is a ruthless element that does not forgive mistakes and forces you to pay dearly for them, at the expense of time and human resources, trapped or trapped in treacherous sand traps.

By “bringing” a large financial accumulation, the factory teams do not miss the opportunity to influence the organizers, constantly reminding them of the call in the track configurations to abandon the sandy and complex dunes, which are particularly unfavorable for technical skills and the experience of its runners. Of course, the Dakar organizers cannot afford not to promise dunes and sand dunes that are beyond the human eye, because this is all symbolic of the Dakar, but to promise what is often unimaginable in the toughest rally. the world could be called crocodile tears on real tracks. Last year, the Dakar was not technical, we know from the presentation presented that there will definitely be no dunes like in South America or Africa, but things can be done on small stairs, and the best proof of that is last year’s experience, “he added Antanas Juknevičius, a legend of the Dakar rally. And dive into the sand dunes like a fish in water.

The 2021 Dakar Rally will take place for the second time in Saudi Arabia from January 3-15. Kreda team leader Antanas Juknevičius is Lithuania’s most experienced athlete who has finished all 10 Dakar. The racer improved three times the best result in the category of cars belonging to the Baltic countries. In 2018, A. Juknevičius was officially recognized by the organizers of the Dakar Rally Legend.