Just a few days before the start of the 2023 Dakar Rally, the Buggyra ZM Racing team had to make a change in the driver line-up for the T3 Light Prototype category. Yasmeen Koloc, who was preparing for her first Dakar, will not be able to participate due to a wrist injury sustained earlier this year. She will be replaced by six-time Dakar winner Josef Machacek. 2023 will mark the 20th Dakar participation for the very experienced Czech racer. Aliyyah Koloc will drive the other Buggyra ZM Racing T3 Light Prototype entry for Dakar.
« We have reached a point where we cannot postpone the decision on the crews for the 2023 Dakar any longer. Yasmeen has been preparing for three years, but unfortunately, she has not been able to overcome her injury fully and her body is not ready for the Dakar. We cannot afford to have a newcomer to the Dakar competing with any limitations, not even a partial one.
Therefore, we have taken the difficult decision to withdraw Yasmeen from the 2023 Dakar. We are expecting her to be ready for her 2023 season which she is currently set to start in late February of next year with the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, » explained team principal Martin Koloc.
« I was really looking forward to my Dakar debut, but unfortunately I had a serious accident during one of my races earlier this year and I injured my wrist. I have been recovering since and making good progress but unfortunately, I am still not 100% ready to start the Dakar. But I’m not losing hope, I’m just postponing my debut until next year. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for my sister and Josef Machacek, who will take my seat, » said the 18-year-old driver.
The 65-year-old veteran Machacek is among a handful of pilots who have competed in the Dakar in Africa, South America, and Saudi Arabia. He will be heading to the 45th edition of the legendary rally with navigator David Schovánek.
« I am looking forward to being a competitor as well as a mentor to Aliyyah who starts the Dakar for the very first time. Of course, I am very happy that I can participate once again, even though I wish the circumstances would have been different. Everything is a bit rushed due to this last-minute driver change but I’m confident that everything will be done in time, » says the 2021 T3 Light Prototype category winner. « The first half of the event will be rocky. But I’m really looking forward to the second part, the big dunes. The main thing for me is to make sure we both go and be somewhere up front, » he added about the challenging profile of the event.
« That I’d participate in the Dakar again wasn’t really part of the plan when I started my cooperation with Buggyra but I knew from the beginning that it would be interesting. For the first three years, I was involved in the development of the buggy and now I am an advisor to the Koloc twins. It is a shame that Yasmeen cannot participate, so I will fully concentrate on mentoring Aliyyah and also of course on my own driving, » said Machacek.
While the treacherous terrain of Saudi Arabian will no doubt be a challenge for Aliyyah, Yasmeen will be left with the role of an observer only. « It’s going to be difficult just watching them. The Dakar is one of my motorsport highlights. It’s all about the team and it’s like riding a roller coaster, one day you are down and then you are up again. But I have decided to look on the bright side of my Dakar postponement: I have an extra year to prepare now, » said Yasmeen.