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The North Bohemian team MKR Technology is preparing a completely new racing truck for the Dutch pilot Martin van den Brink. The team around Mario Kress signed a new three-year contract with the driver of the Mammoet Rallysport team, so both parties can continue to work on the development of the Dakar special truck.
The North Bohemian design team MKR Technology finished its first big tests. In the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, the team is calmly preparing for the new year of the Dakar Rally. The team has managed to move to new premises, is building another special truck and is preparing a new project and gradually improving its hybrid racing truck.
Many firsts. This is one of the ways to summarize this year's 42nd edition of the world's most prestigious long-distance rally. Dakar took place for the first time in Saudi Arabia, the North Bohemian MKR Technology team built the first hybrid truck in the world and all the special trucks from the Židovice technology centre successfully reached the finish line for the first time. Mario Kress, the team leader, was therefore obviously satisfied after arriving in the Czech Republic.
It's Over! The 42nd edition of the world's most prestigious rally reached the finish line and the complete line-up of four North Bohemian Renaults from the MKR Technology team reached the finish as well. At the start line, there was a quartet of trucks, which can start celebrating in the finish at Qiddiya. Although this time they failed to get the desired stage podium, it was not their goal with new technology. So in the end the Czech-Dutch formation has a reason to celebrate. MRK Technology is the first in the world to build a hybrid truck in Dakar, but also made it to the finish line.
All four North Bohemian trucks from MKR Technology handled again the very penultimate difficult stage of this year's 42nd Dakar Rally. What is more, both riders of the Dutch Riwald Dakar team brought their trucks in the top ten.
Due to safety reasons, the organizers prematurely terminated the 10th stage of the Dakar Rally. With a risk of a storm, the crews avoided the final dreaded thirty-kilometer stretch in the dunes and duly finished the marathon stage to the bivouac. However, the North Bohemian hybrid truck of Gert Huzink started the race perfectly and in the end was classified as 4th fastest truck.
MKR Technology team and Martin van den Brink made it! After issues with the rear differential in the 8th stage, the crew of the North Bohemian truck managed to reach the bivouac in time and start the next 9th stage as well. This time, the hybrid truck from Židovice had a great day, and crossed the finish line in fifth best time.
Martin van den Brink, North Bohemian truck driver, got a dose of bad luck. His Renault was affected by issues with differential in Stage 8 of the Dakar Rally and remained trapped in sand dunes for several long hours.
This year's 42nd Dakar Rally has entered its second half. The winner of the day was Andrej Karginov, but Martin van den Brink with the North Bohemian truck was sixth and lost to him less than ten minutes.
Only bad news are coming to MKR Technology's tent. The sixth day of the Dakar Rally can be easily described as a disaster. However, the crews of four North Bohemian Renaults have not given up, and despite all the misfortunes, they have all arrived in the bivouac in Riyadh, where they spend a well-deserved and much sought free day.
All four North Bohemian Renaults finished the very heavy difficult stage unscathed. Although each of the crews of special trucks from Židovice not only had to fight with a number of defects, van den Brink’s truck in Russian-dominated fifth stage eventually reached the seventh fastest time.
Kress trucks are in top ten again. And this time it was the most watched truck, the hybrid, who made the news. The North Bohemian truck by MKR Technology team came in 5th position in the 4th stage of Dakar.