Karel Loprais (4 March 1949 – 30 December 2021) was a Czech rally raid driver and six-time winner of the Dakar Rally in the truck category.
Career He started working in Tatra, Kopřivnice, Czechoslovakia, 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,Sverak, Jakub. "The call of the road" . Prague Post, 21 February 2001. Retrieved on 17 May 2013. Dead link. 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.Agence France-Presse. "Karel Loprais forfait pour le Dakar". Réseau des sports, 2 November 2006. Retrieved on 17 May 2013.
After the Dakar Rally 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).
Personal life and death
Loprais was the uncle of Aleš Loprais who is also a rally raid truck driver.Radio Prague: Czech truck crew drops out of Dakar Rally after accident Loprais died from COVID-19 at a hospital in Nový Jičín on 30 December 2021, aged 72.
Dakar Rally results
YearClassVehiclePositionStages won1986Trucks TatraDNF-19872nd-19881st-1989 Trucks category not held.1990Trucks Tatra4th-19914th-19923rd-19931994Trucks Tatra1st-19951st-19962nd-1997DNF-19981st-19991st120002nd320011st820022nd12003DNF120047th22005DNF02006DNF0
References
External links