Ondřej Klymčiw is preparing for the sixth start of the Dakar Rally, who will sit behind the wheel of the Škoda 130 LR in January, just like this year, and will present himself in the special Classic category.
However, the former successful motorcyclist, who had a very serious fall at the famous competition twice, wants to attack the highest positions after gaining experience in the previous year. A significantly improved car can also help him with that.
“The experience with the motorcycle was good and bad, it was juicy with the Škoda. The experience was intense and in many cases indescribable. But I already knew at the finish line that we would return in 2022,” Klymčiw told today’s press conference in Prague.
He considers the premiere start with a Škoda and the lapse of time crazy. “It was a crazy idea. In any case, I will not lie that I am proud and proud to be the first Czech to take a Škoda to the Dakar. And I saw the goal and I won the stage,” he pointed out a partial success.
In the end, at the historical premiere of the category, which has rules similar to regularity driving and where you have to drive through the given points on the track at the set time, he took 19th place. “But I have to give the car a lot of respect that it lasted. It suffered. We had to constantly build it to survive the next day,” Klymchiw admitted.
In the coming year, however, it will be presented with a significantly modified car. He changed the color, replaced white with black, but more important are technical changes. At first glance, the big wheels attract everyone, the shock absorbers or brakes are new.
“We want to fight for the top positions and we have done everything to be able to compete with big cars with 4×4 drive. It’s still LS, but there are a lot of changes,” said Klymčiw. “It’s completely unique, you can’t buy anything on the internet,” he said. Classic cars must meet the homologations of the past, but according to Klymčiw, the organizers allow a large number of changes. Especially with a view to increasing security.
In January this year, Klymčiw’s navigator was another former motorcyclist Petr Vlček, this time Tomáš Böhm will sit next to him. “Last year it gave me a lot of work to persuade Peter. For work reasons he no longer wanted to and he already told me that he would not go in 2022. In the end we agreed to cooperate with Tomáš, who was with us at the last Dakar as a mechanic. was originally going to go to the Dakar alone in the Classic category, “said Klymčiw.
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