Barbora Holicka, Duckar to fly once more at Dakar Basic in 2025

Barbora Holická and Lucie Engová will deliver their 1979 Citroën 2CV again to the Dakar Basic in 2025. After checking off a profitable end of their début this yr, their purpose for 2025 will probably be to contend for the win.

The 2 completed sixty-third general within the 2024 Dakar Basic and received the H1.A class. Nonetheless, it was actually no stroll within the park. At one level in Stage #10, the automobile obtained caught and so they needed to get it towed to the end. Nonetheless, they achieved their purpose and have become the primary Citroën 2CV to finish the occasion, whether or not within the Basic or the primary Dakar Rally.

“Final yr, our staff had a transparent purpose: to achieve the end,” stated Holická. “We raced with an unique automobile, barely modified, simply because the 2CV groups had accomplished on the historic Paris–Dakar Rally in Africa. We achieved our purpose and have become the primary Citroën 2CV to complete the Dakar.”

Their 2CV was designed by Josef Rataj with a really vibrant livery and a rubber duck on the facet. Nicknamed “Duckar”, the automobile was half of a bigger venture to help duck elevating at Safari Park Dvůr Králové. Rataj will create a brand new wrap for the 2025 automobile.

The Citroën 2CV had been utilized by varied opponents within the Dakar’s early historical past reminiscent of Jean-Louis Ramel in 1983 and Claude Yves Petelet in 1985. Pierre David entered the latter in a modified 2CV, solely to retire from the Prologue. Holická’s 2CV, which entered on the seventy fifth anniversary for the automobile, was the fifteenth occasion of 1 collaborating.

“We gained a whole lot of expertise in January,” started mechanic Tomáš Neruda. “I’ve been constructing 2CVs for over thirty years, however I had by no means constructed an off-road model. I do know these automobiles from world rallies, the place the off-road neighborhood comes collectively to race on African sands, however I had no firsthand expertise.

“We spent a whole lot of time brainstorming doable modifications for the African terrain and which might take us additional. We considered thge automobile’s weight, the gearbox, and particularly the engine’s energy. We’re consulting a specialist in Belgium, and we even constructed an engine there that produces double the output on the similar weight whereas nonetheless being a easy air-cooled twin-cylinder boxer.”

Holická and Engová primarily compete in stage rally, the latter as each a driver and navigator for her brother Tomáš Enge.

The 2025 Dakar Basic runs in tandem with the Dakar Rally on 3–17 January.