Dakar Rally 2017. Day 8. La Paz - Uyuni, Bolivia. Heart Cyprus Stage.

Dakar Rally 2017. Day 8. La Paz - Uyuni, Bolivia. Heart Cyprus Stage.

9th of January marked the beginning of a supermarathon part of the Dakar. It was an extremely tough day for the team.

Due to the harsh conditions en route (the passage laid through the Salt Lake of Uyuni during the rainy season) the leaver of the gearbox got broken. The Supermarathon is always characterised by the prohibition of any external help, thus the team faced the challenge of managing to shift the gears in an alternative way. The solution was found on the spot and the difficult section was successfully passed in low gear.

Fortunately, the special stage was reduced by 300 km, due to weather conditions, yet the total of 750 kilometres were passed.

As mentioned above, no mechanical help was allowed to be received even during the night stop, thus Roman and Bert were forced to change the sensor of the turbo-pump themselves and the problem was solved.

10th of January will see Cyprus Team traverse the Bolivian Altiplano back to Argentina, heading from Uyuni to Salta during a 900 kilometre descent, 500 of which will comprise the special stage.

Stay tuned and get behind the team!