Firefighters rushed on 4th place
7.1.2020
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Richard de Groot, a pilot of North Bohemian truck by MKR Technology, achieved a fantastic success. Firemen Dakar team rider finished the third stage on a surprising fourth position. And in such a tough competition, it is a big thing for the Dutch “firemen”. The other three special trucks from Židovice were doing great as well.
“Richard and the crew were so happy, that they did not even believe how great they have done. At first, they thought it must be some kind of mistake. Our mechanics were already making fun of them, they were practicing arriving to put out a fire. So, we would have to set up a fire on every stage to keep their time as short as possible,” smiled Mario Kress, lead designer of the fourth fastest truck of the 3rd Dakar stage. The truck is paying tribute to his name has the fire sirens and beacons as well.
Tuesday's stage was four hundred and twenty kilometers. The crews had to cover almost eighty extras. Andrei Karginov was the fastest to finish the timed special section on the loop which started and finished in Neom. The Russian Kamaz won with almost five minutes lead of the second Belarus Viazovich. De Groot's truck in fourth place lost more than a quarter of an hour to the winner. Also, other North Bohemian Renaults were heading for the elite top ten. Pascal de Baar closed it, Martin van den Brink just did not fit in with his "Sherpa", as he crossed the finish line on eleventh place. Once again, the most watched truck of the Kress quartet - the Huzink Hybrid – had the biggest share of troubles. He eventually arrived on 21st place. “The guys had to stop on the track because of troubles with the differential. Fortunately, nothing serious, but they lost an hour,” remarked MKR Technology technician Daniel Kozlovský from Roudnice.
However, the whole quartet of Židovice trucks improved in the overall ranking. Pascal de Baar jumped to ninth, Richard de Groot is eleventh, van den Brink seventeenth and Huzink thirty-first. The overall classification is led by Belarus Viazovich, followed by today’s winner Karginov.
On Wednesday, Dakar continues with Stage 4, which leaves Neom and ends in Al Ula. During this stage, the crews have to cover almost six hundred and eighty kilometers, of which four hundred and fifty are timed.
