​Mountains, deserts, dunes and temperatures around 40 °C. On top of that 178 racers from around the world and virtually all Dakar motorcycle and quad elite present. Such was Merzouga Rally for the quad-racer Ollie Roučková who participated there for the first time ever. „During the prologue and five very hard stages, I checked out how far I can push my limits. Part of the race was also the marathon during which we slept without organizers’ assistance in the middle of a raging storm. I still have to improve a lot, work on myself and train my ride according to the navigation which is my big weakness,“said the racer from Ollie Racing Team concluding her premiere.  

 

 

Ollie Roučková didn’t avoid a fall which ended only with bruises. “I still have to polish my ride in dunes during the year. Although I trained it thoroughly before Merzouga Rally, I made an elementary mistake and fell over the handlebars on one sharp dune. I learned my lesson having bruised ribs, hips, elbows and bitten lip,“ Ollie recalls the rough rally. Twenty-three quad-riders stood at the start, Ollie placed 14th. It should be noted that only two female quad riders participated in the race.