Dakar 2022: Excellent Michek finished ninth! Pabiška headed to the hospital after the fall, Macík in trouble

Michek in the longest stage of this year (465 measured kilometers) only confirmed the form from the last days. He drove tactically, accelerated in the end and managed the final 70 kilometers even faster than the victorious Spaniard Barred. He was eleventh in the finish, but after additional penalties his opponents moved forward two places.

“It was very long, I’m tired. It was a very fast stage. I kept full throttle until the last minute, I drove a maximum of 165 km / h several times. Now I have to cross and go to bed for a while. We still have about 140 kilometers to the bivouac and today we will cover a total of almost 800 kilometers, which is really a rocket, “he said after the finish.

Unfortunately, David Pabiška fell in the stage and his 13th participation in the Dakar ends unhappily and prematurely. According to the Jantar team, for which he is starting, “he is conscious after the basic treatment and is heading to the hospital for a more thorough examination. Perhaps only the ribs and the loop took it.”

Pabiška himself wrote in his instagram account: “I never knew what it was like not to finish the Dakar Rally. I apologize to everyone who supports me and supports me. Thank you. I guess it must have come one day.” He later confirmed the fractures in the bivouac and said: “The problem was that my airbag did not inflate, so I’m scared because it could have ended differently.”

It also warned Milan Engel, Wednesday 32. “I was fine at first, I caught the pace. But then I got a kick, which was such a warning sign, and I preferred to go my own way. David Pabiška broke down, he probably has a broken handle. That’s why I’m glad I’m at the finish line, “he said.

But Engel remains in second place without any assistant riders.

In the car category, after the additional penalty of the domestic al-Raji, the Catalan al-Attiya won, which thus strengthened the overall lead. Martin Prokop also received a penalty (seven minutes) for exceeding the maximum speed after the finish, thus finishing 23rd and falling to eighth place overall. “It was an interesting stage and especially fast after the start. We survived one difficult moment when we went off the track, which threw us into huge holes and threw a lot. Then we were very careful and it was visible at the pace, “said Prokop.

He claimed that difficult sections on the dunes and riverbed helped him. “But the average speed was still terrible today and I have to say that I’m not doing well. I hope it will be harder and slower in the next few days to have a chance to show something. It was obvious that African fools overtook us several times today, but then they were hanging out like noodles in a gang. That’s our chance. “

Russian Nikolaev won in trucks. Aleš Loprais lost 16 and a half minutes to him and was sixth. However, he still has the overall fifth place. But he had a wild day. “It was one of the five toughest stages I’ve ever completed. A buggy crashed into us between the eighth and tenth kilometers. They made a fatal mistake. We stopped right away, fortunately nothing happened to anyone. However, we had a slow defect after the crash,” said Loprais. .

But in the next hundred kilometers, his two rear shocks broke, so the car behaved completely differently. “I prayed to all souls and to Kája (Uncle Karl) to lead us to the finish line. I was glad that we reached the dunes where the car rested. Today it was a lure and good luck with us,” Loprais admitted. .

On the other hand, Martin Macík, who took a two-hour run on the track and was unlucky, is probably a good result at the rally. “We got a lot of blows in various holes on the track and the exhaust pipe was probably loose. The heat made him stop working soon and threatened to catch them. That’s why we had to stop and fix it, “he explained.