Dakar 2018 | Dominik & Dominik
My stories / 9. March 2018
This year, the Slovnaft Rally Team has been expanded by two new members with no first-hand experience of the Dakar atmosphere. Dominik Guľáš and Dominik Žažo have had the opportunity to try out that you do have to put some elbow grease into the race.
“Dominik Guľáš is son of one of my partners from whom I learnt that he would like to be part of our team. He is 19 and it is great that he is a sportsman too, a rugby player.”
Apart from being a Dakar fan and a rugby player, Dominik Guľáš is an offroad driver, too. It was also this fact that made a difference in the decision-taking if he would get the post of a caravan driver at Dakar Rally 2018.
“We met with Dominik a few times so that he knew what to expect at Dakar. Besides taking care of the caravan and its move, he had to help us with everything as necessary.”
While moving in between the stages, Dominik Guľáš shared the post of the caravan driver with his friend Dominik Žažo, whom he himself had proposed for the Slovnaft Rally team. He is an amateur driver in motocross and offroad events where he would repair the car himself.
“For the first four days, the guys were testing the water, we would show them everything and show them the ropes at Dakar. Later on, they worked individually and we did not have to deal with any problems concerning them. They caught on really quickly.”
As Števo told long ago: “At Dakar, I need to have people like me nearby. People for whom Dakar is a matter of the heart.” During the entire course of the Dakar rally, the two new helpers were guided especially by the permanent team members, the mechanic Zlatko Novosád and the manager Maroš Kubačka.
“The first and foremost task of the Dominiks was to drive the caravan into bivouac; apart from that, they would help with everything that had to be done on the respective day. When they were told to collect parts for the motorbike, they did so. They were extremely helpful indeed and I view their coming to the team as a good choice.”