Karel Loprais
Karel Loprais (born March 4, 1949 in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech rally raid driver and 6-time winner of the Dakar Rally in the truck category.
Career
He started working in Tatra, Kopřivnice, as a factory worker in 1967, later becoming a test driver. He competed with a Tatra 815 truck in the Dakar Rally for the first time in 1986,[1] being disqualified from the 2nd place for arriving late to the last stage start. He competed 19 times between 1986-2006 and claimed six titles (1988, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001), four second places (1987, 1996, 2000, 2002), one third place (1992), two fourth places (1990, 1991) and one seventh place (2004).
After his second victory in 1994, when he placed at the 6th place in the common auto-camion category some media started to call him Monsieur Dakar.[1][2]
After the Dakar he took part in the Paris-Moscow-Beijing rally in 1993 (3rd place), the Master Rallye in 1995 (4th place) and the UAE Desert Challenge in 1999 (3rd place) and 2000 (2nd place).
Dakar Rally results
| Year | Class | Vehicle | Position | Stages won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Trucks |  Tatra |
DNF | ? |
| 1987 | 2nd | ? | ||
| 1988 | 1st | ? | ||
| 1989 | Trucks category not held. | |||
| 1990 | Trucks | Tatra |
4th | ? |
| 1991 | 4th | ? | ||
| 1992 | 3rd | ? | ||
| 1993 | ||||
| 1994 | Trucks | Tatra |
1st | ? |
| 1995 | 1st | ? | ||
| 1996 | 2nd | ? | ||
| 1997 | DNF | 2 | ||
| 1998 | 1st | 2 | ||
| 1999 | 1st | 1 | ||
| 2000 | 2nd | 3 | ||
| 2001 | 1st | 8 | ||
| 2002 | 2nd | 1 | ||
| 2003 | DNF | 1 | ||
| 2004 | 7th | 2 | ||
| 2005 | DNF | 0 | ||
| 2006 | DNF | 0 | ||
References
- 1 2 Sverak, Jakub. "The call of the road". Prague Post, February 21, 2001. Retrieved on May 17, 2013.
- ↑ Agence France-Presse. "Karel Loprais forfait pour le Dakar". Réseau des sports, November 2, 2006. Retrieved on May 17, 2013.
External links
- Official website (in Czech) (in English)
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Karel Loprais. |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jan de Rooy |
Dakar Rally Truck Winner 1988 |
Succeeded by Giorgio Villa (1990) |
| Preceded by Francesco Perlini |
Dakar Rally Truck Winner 1994–1995 |
Succeeded by Viktor Moskovskikh |
| Preceded by Peter Reif |
Dakar Rally Truck Winner 1998–1999 |
Succeeded by Vladimir Chagin |
| Preceded by Vladimir Chagin |
Dakar Rally Truck Winner 2001 |
Succeeded by Vladimir Chagin |