Although the ULTIMATE DAKAR Racing team has a successful, albeit dramatic, DAKAR and over 7,000 racing kilometres on its account this year, the coronavirus crisis also radically affected the team’s activities.
The cancellation or postponement of all FIA CEZ races, the Morocco Desert Challenge, and national championships at least allowed the crew to focus on the car and properly “clean up” after the first Saudi Arabian Dakar.
In April, the team completed a small testing session during which Tomáš Ouředníček was simultaneously a guest on the TV Sport5 show “Show Yourself!”.
Signals from the Hungarian organisers suggested that racing might perhaps resume as early as June, but so far only a “rally school” had been organised, which allowed Hungarian drivers to air out their cars.
When on Friday, 5 June, the Hungarian government unexpectedly announced the full opening of its borders to Czech citizens as well, the ULTIMATE DAKAR team literally seized the first opportunity to head to Hungary via already-open Slovakia.
The organisers prepared one special stage of 12.5 km with full safety coverage. This is particularly important for any testing, as safety always comes first.
“It was a wonderful feeling of freedom and pure joy that we can travel freely again and meet our colleagues and friends in Hungary, where we are starting our thirteenth season this year,” said Tomáš Ouředníček, unable to hide his delight.
A warm welcome, curious questions about Dakar, but above all a thorough check of the technical equipment and support were on the agenda of the one-day rally school.
“It was great to see our friends again and return at least for a moment to ‘race mode’. We found and fixed minor faults on the car, the faulty main fan that caused trouble in the last Dakar stage but then kept working manifested itself again, and we tested various engine maps,” Tomáš assessed in an interview for the Hungarian TV channel Sport 1.
“It was a great mental refresh and a small celebration of the return to normal life. Many thanks to the Hungarian organisers for a brilliantly organised event. We are glad that we were once again able to represent our country and our partners.”
The ULTIMATE DAKAR Racing team is now planning a series of Dakar camps for the public and partners, as well as test drives where it is possible to win an adrenaline co-drive in the Dakar special with Tomáš Ouředníček.
www.oneshotenergy.cz
The start of the postponed races and social events is expected from July.
