RALLY DAKAR 2022

The 'desierto elephants', at the pace of the big swords of coaches and motorcycles

The 44th edition of the Dakar is having a limited follow-up in Spain. Without a figure of the story of Fernando Alonso and with Carlos Sainz was of the skin for the 'Touareg' since the first stage, the interest of the career focuses on the partial performances of the Spanish representatives. If you know that the injured Joan Barreda or the Salmantino Lorenzo Santolino are fighting for the Dakar on motorcycles, but it doesn't seem enough to attract the attention of the great public. The fight between Nasser Al-Attiyah and Sébastien Loeb is just as intense as the fight for the 'Touareg' on motorbikes.

While the carrera may have more or less interest in this concrete edition, there is a constant with the step of the years and the attractive bit that awakens the category of trucks. Much of the blame lies with the crushing domain of KAMAZ during the last decade, regardless of regulatory changes that oblige them to modify their trucks. This year is not an exception and the fight for the 'Touareg' is the case of three of the four pilots of the Russian firm, but there is still a margin for KAMAZ to achieve the desired 1-2-3-4 in general at the end of the rally.

However, the category of trucks offers spectacular images and a performance that could be 'hidden' by other race studies. Without going further, Dmitry Sotnikov won the eighth stage of the Dakar after completing the special course in 3 hours, 56 minutes and 42 seconds. A time that on the paper doesn't say too much, but it puts the Russian rider's KAMAZ in the 'top 15' of the coach category and in the 'top 10' in the motorcycle category. In other words, the 'desierto elephants' are capable of running at the pace of the big swords of coaches and motorcycles.

At the end, the data spoke for themselves and Dmitry Sotnikov completed the eighth stage of the Dakar with an average speed of 100.13 km/h. For his part, Mattias Ekström, winner in the coach category, closed the day with an average speed of 106.11 km / h, while Sam Sunderland had achieved victory in motorcycles with an average speed of 103.03 km / H. It is clear that trucks do not have anything to do with their companions in adventures of other categories, however much the 'desert elephants' are often overlooked, something they do not deserve due to their pace and spectacularity.

Autonews/Mundoquatrorodas