2 January, Resistencia
Argentinean city Resistencia became the first destination point of Dakar-2017, where the race contestants arrived after start in Asuncion. After stuffy Paraguayan capital, with its slums and derelict architectural buildings in the city centre, sportsmen were happy to find themselves in great spaces of semi deserted, sparsely populated, hot, tropical Gran Chaco. It is the very region Paraguay had great expectations for economic prosperity. In 1930-ies a violent conflict broke out between Bolivia and Paraguay for these according to rumors rich in oil territories. By the way, the Russian white-guard General Ivan Belyaev was the Chief of Staff of the Paraguayan Army. Nevertheless, oil wasn’t found there. Both sides lost around 200 thousand people in the field. Fortunately, the conflict became history and the relations of the neighbors improved. On yesterday start ceremony in Asuncion the President of Paraguay Horacio Cartes and the Head of Bolivia Evo Morales, that had come here, saw off the crews into the long 9000-km travel around South America.
The parting gift of the Dakar organizers became a short 39-km special, the main purpose of which was to entertain the public and give opportunity for the sportsmen to check themselves and the vehicles. After this short warm-up the crews had to cross the border of Paraguay and Argentina and like South American cowboys gaucho ran at full throttle last 400 km across Chaco to the bivouac in Resistencia.
Martin Kolomy 00:30:00
Ton Van Genugten +00:00:13
Martin Van Den Brink +00:00:25
Ales Loprais +00:00:31
Gerard De Rooy +00:00:42
Eduard Nikolaev +00:00:50
Peter Versluis +00:01:02
Artur Ardavichus +00:01:21
Federico Villagra+00:01:26
Dmitry Sotnikov+00:01:31
Sergey Vyazovich +00:01:33
Gert Huzink+00:01:33
Hans Stacey+00:01:33
Airat Mardeev +00:01:41
Anton Shibalov +00:01:45
