MARCH 4, 1949, OSTRAVA († DECEMBER 30, 2021)
He is a Czech rally driver and six-time winner of the RALLYE DAKAR in the truck category with the Tatra 815 vehicle.
RESIDENCE: Frenštát pod Radhoštěm
- Winner of the Rallye Dakar (1988, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001)
- 10 times on the podium of the Rallye Dakar
- Victories in the truck category in 20 Dakar stages
- 2nd place in the Paris – Beijing rally (1992)
- 3rd place in the Paris – Cape Town rally (1992)
- Winner of the Golden Steering Wheel award (1992, 1995, 1996, 1999)
- Holder of the Golden Steering Wheel for lifetime contribution to motorsport
- Rally driver of the century in the Czech Republic (2000)
- In 2017, he received the Medal for Merit to the State in the field of sports from the hands of Czech President Miloš Zeman.
MONSIEUR DAKAR (†, MR. DAKAR)
- He earned the nickname from French organizers in 1994 when he won for the second time in the truck category.
- At the same time, he finished sixth in the overall classification with passenger cars.
- This was a feat that no one has surpassed to this day (not even with twin-engine monsters).
- The winning vehicle from 1988 (a modified “silver” one from 1987) is exhibited in the technical museum in Kopřivnice.
- Another two-time winning 4-door special Tatra 815 was stolen during a bandit attack in the 1998 rally (crew: B. Sklenovský / T. Tomeček / P. Hamerla).