To 2021
η SKODA complements 120 years with constant and intense
presence in Motorsport! All this time,
models, either with full
either in the "normal" category or in the "normal" category, participated, excelled and
won victories in every race, on every surface, in all weather conditions.
Only one match was an exception and this "last castle" fell before
a few days. Ondrej Klymciw, a veteran of motorsport,
at the wheel of a SKODA 130 LR, saw
the chequered flag at the finish of this year's Dakar Rally. It was the first presence
SKODA in the famous, tough and so special rally, which for the first time
for the first time this year presented the Dakar Classic category.
The SKODA 130 LR was built in the
1980s as a factory car for the world championships
rally. This fact, ensured by the organizers the green light for the
his participation. The car was fitted with a modified gearbox with
limited slip differential and ratios suitable for Dakar. The
air filter system modified specifically for the occasion - sand for sand - while
the engineers increased the distance from the ground as much as possible. A
another issue was how to prepare the car for high temperatures and
the risk of overheating - a separate cooling circuit was installed while
doubled the capacity of the front radiator, with parallel placement
two additional air supplies, controlled by a thermostat or manually by the
Guide.
The car retained its original
engine, enlarged to 1.4 litres, with two Weber carburettors. Mounted
more powerful crankshaft and dry-cartridge lubrication was preferred.
The choice of tyres was a big one
Problem. The engineers wanted a SKODA 130 that was as authentic as possible, even in appearance.
LR, with its original domes and not a type of buggy. So, the tires were avoided
large diameter and the experts off–road wheels. The choice was tyres
designed for stone soils.
Two spare tyres, one tank
fuel tank enlarged to 85 litres, a pair of ramps to detach the
car from the sand, shovels and some basic spare parts, was the dowry
SKODA 130 LR for the endless dunes. Of course, as a result, the
car came to weigh over a ton, compared to the weight of the
of the original rally car which was around seven hundred pounds.
Ondrej Klymciw, driver of the SKODA130 LR,
started out in dragster racing, winning a number of titles and
creating several national records that remain unchallenged to this day.
He followed a successful career in the Moto Cross, with the most significant success being a seventh
In 2013, he took second place in the Rally Tuareg. He made his debut in the Dakar Rally in 2015,
in motorcycles, occupying the twentieth place in the overall ranking and the
second place among the participants for the first time. Of course, since Dakar he had
mixed memories, such as a broken pelvis and a punctured lung after
from an accident in 2016 and an eleventh place in the 2017 Dakar Rally, just 37
seconds out of the top ten. In 2018, another accident with
motorcycle again in Dakar, resulted in four shattered
vertebrae, three cardiac arrests and three broken arteries. For the
doctors, it was a miracle he survived. After all, Klymciw, just before
at the start of this year's Dakar Rally, said that "participation in the SKODA 130 LR
was the best gift he could have asked for."
In the hands of Ondrej Klymciw, the SKODA 130
LR was pushed to its limits. Some days the rides exceeded nine hundred
kilometres, with the time for repairs and maintenance being minimal and the
fatigue of materials and components is unavoidable. In the midst of many misfortunes, the
Klymciw and his passenger were lucky in the end. At some point he broke the
gearbox. Fortunately, it happened after the middle of the leg, so according to
the crew could restart the next day. A
burnt gasket on the cylinder head required all the ingenuity of the
crew to replace her while the funniest incident was when she left
from the position of a front wheel. All that the
crew was waiting in the middle of the desert for one of the support trucks
of the other crews, to lend them some suitable bolts - something
which was done in a display of true sportsmanship!
After a first place
in the sixth leg, three third places in respective legs and two second places in the
the last two timed runs, the SKODA 130 LR arrived within
celebrating at the finish line, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 19th place
of the Dakar Classic category. Plus, the brand's proverbial reliability carries
and the stamp of success in the Dakar Rally.
