Early the next day our family loaded into our truck with wide brimmed hats and thermoses full of ice water. We set out to where the Dakar Rally was to start, about an hour east of Asuncion. As the sun rose over the highway we passed a huge service vehicle for one of the truck entries. It was headed to the same destination and carried two-dozen off road tires for the nearly two week race that was about to begin. The specific location of the race was not publicized and we were never sure we'd even get to see the vehicles from the expo in action. Thankfully our friend found details about the race's location on a French Facebook page. There were about nine viewing areas along this first leg of the Dakar. We had decided to head for the seventh which was situated on a 90 degree turn along the course.
The Dakar Rally takes it's racers over the terrain- as it is. Here in Paraguay that terrain happened to be an orange dirt road just like the one's we are used to navigating on a regular basis. At times this road would narrow so that branches would thrash the larger vehicles- especially the trucks. In another section a stream flowed across the road which wouldn't take long to become a muddy mire- also something we were familiar with. The only difference being we've never tried to navigate muddy roads at 70 miles an hour. It was going to be so cool to see the Dakar racers tearing up such familiar terrain!
When we found the seventh viewing area police had roped off the racing course and no one was allowed within 50 feet of it. We thought we had gotten an early start but some people had camped over-night to get the best vantage point. Shade was the most important thing to find though- without it we wouldn't last the day. To our left on a raised bank was a Paraguayan's property, green and shady, set underneath a grove of coco palm trees. I ventured to ask him if we could watch the race from his yard and was not surprised to receive a warm Paraguayan welcome. We laid out a tarp underneath a palm and situated ourselves among the other viewers. From the youngest to the elderly, Paraguayans and foreigners were equipped with cold terere tea and had come out to watch this momentous race. One woman kept a tamed parakeet on her arm.
The kids found various ways to entertain themselves throughout the day and while we waited for the race to begin. At one point Eli found a centipede which the kids allowed to climb up and down their arms.
Judah found a cicada or junebug skin which Haley thought was disgusting!
Finally a helicopter passed overhead telling us that the first racer was fast approaching! Coincidentally, it too was covered in bugs.
Throughout the course of the day vehicles would be released every two minutes. By the time they reached our viewing area, which was closer to the end of course, some would have closed that gap. When that happened we would be in for an exciting scene as two and sometimes even three racers tried to overtake eachother on the 90 degree curve! But, as Toby mentioned in our last newsletter, most of the time minutes would pass before we'd see the next racer. The race was to begin with the dirt bikes. The first thing we noticed was the sound of a motor screaming toward us... and then we saw them!
We loudly cheered when the only American entry flew by- #9, Ricky Brabec. After finishing 1st in the seventh stage of the race Brabec would eventually have to drop out of the Dakar. On stage ten, while navigating though 122 degree heat, Brabec crashed his Honda bike breaking the radiator. Soon afterward he was treated for dehydration and heat exhaustion. It is to be expected that not all competitors will finish the grueling Dakar. Even during the first leg of the race in Paraguay there were those who didn't finish.
During an unusually long lull in the race I noticed that Paraguayans were talking with the police and other volunteers. Word of mouth had it that one of the racers had broken his arm. Local Paraguayans had run out onto the road to help him. He was able to get back onto his bike and there were cheers as he headed off toward the nearest medical station which was right where we were. After a bit we saw the rider pull up and the two medical personnel quickly came to his aid.
Then, it wasn't long until the race was underway again. The next vehicles to come by were the quads, or four-wheelers. The crowd cheered at the sight of the ATV's. Some viewers tried to get a closer look but the Police, who had the best seat, strictly enforced the boundaries.
Then came the cars which included SUVs, modified cars, pick-up trucks and
UTVs! Unlike the dirt bikes and quads, these vehicles required two people- a driver and a navigator. Not ever having driven this course before all the racers had to depend on a chart listing the turns and the distances between them. Many racers got lost in the sections that took them through the desert and the mountains in Argentina and Bolivia. In the first shot, below, you can actually see Sarah through the dust cloud above the pick-up!
By this point in the race we had gotten used to hearing the cars before we saw them. However at one point, while we were chatting and drinking terere, we were surprised to see a rally car fly by... without a sound! The only noise to be heard was the sound of dirt under it's tires. It was an electric car which would go on to be the first ever to complete the Dakar Rally. Another Dakar-first were the UTVs. This was the first time these small dune-buggy like vehicles raced in the Dakar. However, at the end of the 12 day race they would prove to be the slowest of the five vehicle types.
While we were still watching to see another car, without warning, the first of the trucks came barreling down the dirt road. Massive yet agile, these machines carry a team of three- a driver, navigator and a mechanic. It literally took my breath away to see something that big rocketing toward the 90 degree turn! To everyone's amazement it took the turn without slowing too much. Branches snapped overhead as the 12 foot tall truck cleared a path.
The truck that won the 2017 Dakar was #505 driven by Eduard Nicolaev and his team. Here's a series of shots showing them taking the turn!
At one point two trucks fast approached the turn. We wondered how two vehicles would handle such a narrow road. When they reached the bend the tailing truck took the inside and actually overtook the other! These drivers, many of them Russian, obviously knew how to handle something that big. In some sections of the Dakar they would even go airborne- jumping over the terrain. While most of the trucks had four large treaded tires there were a few six-wheelers like #544.
Towards the end of the day I escorted a couple of our kids to the bathroom. To get there we were allowed to traverse through our Paraguayan friend's farm and climb through a couple fences until we came to an outhouse at the back of his property. From there, looking across their sun flower fields, I found another great vantage point of the race course. It was the height of mechanical competition and ingenuity set in the most humble and serene of places. How awesome was it that the Dakar finally came to Paraguay!
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