Dakar 2020: Ourednicek and Kripal to be part of new chapter

On 1 November, the entries were closed for the 2020 edition of the most gruelling motorsport event of the world. The 42nd Dakar Rally is the beginning of a new chapter: in April, French organiser ASO announced the new host country of the race – Saudi Arabia. After months of hard work and after successfully finishing two of the world’s biggest rallies this year, Czech Republic’s Tomas Ourednicek, who has finished five Dakars, one of them in Top 10, and his co-driver David Kripal have announced to participate in the Dakar Rally in 2020 again with their Ford Ranger.

“We expect a very special race in 2020 in a number of aspects. On the one hand, we are very enthusiastic to go to Saudi Arabia and it is great to see that our sponsors are excited about the opportunity as well. On the other hand, this year there will be more cars than trucks representing the Czech Republic in the king category which has never happened before, and this creates a very interesting situation. The appointment of David Castera as the new director of the race is very promising, as he has vast experience as co-driver, knows what competitors need and is committed to making the sporting aspect even better,” Tomas Ourednicek says.

The 2020 edition of Dakar Rally will start from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on 5th January. After almost two weeks of racing, including a rest day in the capital Riyadh, the competitors can celebrate their success in Al Qiddiyah on 17 January.

About the team
Racing career of Tomas Ourednicek started back in 2008 when he became the co-driver of Miroslav Zapletal. The crew finished in a superb 7th position (3rd in category T1.1) in their first Dakar together and went on to win the Hungarian and the Czech Championship title as well as some excellent results in the World Cup in the next months. Despite suffering a big crash during the 2010 edition of the Dakar Rally they worked their way back to the elite, finishing 4th in the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies in 2011.
After starting (and finishing) in trucks in the 2012 edition of the Dakar and a short break in 2013, Ourednicek decided to return to the tracks for the 2014 season, but this time at the steering wheel. As the vehicle, he opted for a Hummer H3 EVO and he finished second in the FIA Central European Zone Championship right in his debut year. Two years (and as many category championship titles) later, he decided to take another step forward, and from the beginning of the 2017 season, he drives a Ford Ranger Dakar under the flag of South Racing Central Europe.
With his new co-driver David Kripal they scored a victory in their first ever race together, Morocco Desert Challenge, the biggest rally-raid event in Africa, in April 2017. Due to an accident of Kripal, the crew couldn't take part in as many World Cup events as they wanted, but still they were able to finish 8th in HunGarian Baja and be among the best 15 in the two biggest events of the World Cup, Baja Aragon and Rallye OiLibya du Maroc.
In 2018 they finished their first Dakar together in 33rd position after struggling with technical problems for most of the race. Following their horror accident in April 2018, in the 2019 edition of Dakar Rally they scored their best stage result so far, a 15th place, and finished 17th overall.

Source Tomas Ourednicek official press release