Dakar turns into hell

12.1.2019

The Marathon part of the Dakar for many has become literal hell. MKR Technology teams of North Bohemia had to fight big troubles in the 5th stage. The organizers even had to shorten the stage due to security reasons. Everybody is looking forward to the planned rest day, which is coming on Saturday.

            "It's like a bad dream. The guys in the previous days were doing well and exactly as planned. With the first part of the marathon stage, they coped with it in excellent way and there was nothing that would suggest that they such troubles should come. But Gert was stopped by a hole in the engine and Janus had such an accident that he could not get out of there for five hours, because nothing and no one could pull him back on the road, "Mario Kress, lead designer of twins of Renault trucks from Židovice described the troubles they have gone through.

            While the hole in the engine meant an immediate end for a Gert Huzink from Riwald Dakar, Mammoet Rallysport's Janus van Kasteren continued to run in the competition with a major loss. The stage also brought big troubles to the Czech pilot Martin Macík, who was going for a stage victory, but eventually after one jump broke, his wheel got torn away and the dream of gold was gone. There was also an incident on Dakar when Karginov's truck knocked down a 60-year-old spectator, but he was standing in the forbidden zone. As the crew did not stop, the jury decided to expel them from the competition. The injured man was transferred to the hospital, according to the information provided, with a broken thigh bone. Eventually, the organizers shortened the stage due to thick mist. The official results are still pending, but Eduard Nikolaev with Kamaz is considered a winner of this day, he is also leading the overall standings. 

The crews headed for the Arequipa bivouac, where they will spend the deserved day off, and where everyone thinks about possible and impossible ideas how to join the second half of this 41st edition. Those who dropped off in the first week, can rejoin the competition of "little Dakar" - just for the second week. "We plan to use this option. During the day off, we simply replace Gert's engine, which we use from the van Martin van den Brink's truck. It will be hell of an effort, but we believe we can get everything ready, so we can continue on Dakar in two trucks that help each other,"said engineer Mario Kress.

            Dakar continues on Sunday with 6th stage from Arequipa to San Juan de Marcona, which with its 810 kilometers is the longest of this year. However, the timed section is "only" slightly more than three hundred kilometers.