The Slovak motorcycle racer started his 16th participation in the prestigious Dakar Rally with 17th place. In the opening prologue in Bisha, Saudi Arabia, he achieved a time of 18:17 minutes and was 1:26 minutes behind the fastest Daniel Sanders from Australia.
The opening prologue measured 29 km. “The pitch was exactly as I thought it would be. A little sandy, a little dusty, very slippery and fast. A couple of times I didn’t brake and came out of the corner, so I tried to go fast and I was careful. Seventeenth place is pretty cool, even though I expected a little better,” said Svitko on his official Facebook page.
In the car category, South African Henk Lategan triumphed just one second ahead of Swede Mattias Ekström. The first 500-kilometer stage of the 47th edition is scheduled for Saturday. A total of 12 stages awaited the competitors, the final one on January 17.
