Barbora Holická and Lucie Engová will carry their 1979 Citroën 2CV again to the Dakar Basic in 2025. After checking off a profitable end of their début this yr, their purpose for 2025 will probably be to contend for the win.
The 2 completed sixty-third general within the 2024 Dakar Basic and gained the H1.A class. Nonetheless, it was actually no stroll within the park. At one level in Stage #10, the automotive acquired caught they usually needed to get it towed to the end. However, they achieved their purpose and have become the primary Citroën 2CV to finish the occasion, whether or not within the Basic or the principle Dakar Rally.
“Final yr, our group had a transparent purpose: to succeed in the end,” mentioned Holická. “We raced with an unique automotive, barely modified, simply because the 2CV groups had performed on the historic Paris–Dakar Rally in Africa. We achieved our purpose and have become the primary Citroën 2CV to complete the Dakar.”
Their 2CV was designed by Josef Rataj with a really vibrant livery and a rubber duck on the aspect. Nicknamed “Duckar”, the automotive was half of a bigger mission to assist duck elevating at Safari Park Dvůr Králové. Rataj will create a brand new wrap for the 2025 automotive.
The Citroën 2CV had been utilized by numerous rivals within the Dakar’s early historical past reminiscent of Jean-Louis Ramel in 1983 and Claude Yves Petelet in 1985. Pierre David entered the latter in a modified 2CV, solely to retire from the Prologue. Holická’s 2CV, which entered on the seventy fifth anniversary for the automotive, was the fifteenth occasion of 1 collaborating.
“We gained loads of expertise in January,” started mechanic Tomáš Neruda. “I’ve been constructing 2CVs for over thirty years, however I had by no means constructed an off-road model. I do know these automobiles from world rallies, the place the off-road neighborhood comes collectively to race on African sands, however I had no firsthand expertise.
“We spent loads of time brainstorming attainable modifications for the African terrain and which might take us additional. We thought of thge automotive’s weight, the gearbox, and particularly the engine’s energy. We’re consulting a specialist in Belgium, and we even constructed an engine there that produces double the output on the identical weight whereas nonetheless being a easy air-cooled twin-cylinder boxer.”
Holická and Engová primarily compete in stage rally, the latter as each a driver and navigator for her brother Tomáš Enge.
The 2025 Dakar Basic runs in tandem with the Dakar Rally on 3–17 January.
