In the third stage Huzink finished fourth
16.4.2019
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It almost seemed that one of the North-Bohemian trucks would end up on a podium position on Morocco Desert Challenge. In the end pilot Gert Huzink took fourth place in the third stage. Martin van den Brink with on-board technician Daniel Kozlovsky from Roudnice crossed the finished line two positions back in the results.
“After we have punctured tires yesterday, we decided to slow down a bit today. The terrain was worse again and we didn't want to risk another waste of time, so we had to slow down. I know Martin can drive much faster, but we've agreed that at the expense of seconds we don't want to lose valuable minutes any more. I believe that because of that as well, I haven't had the slightest problem in the second stage. The start was fast enough, but then came the big off-road, where we did great,”said Daniel Kozlovský, technician from Roudnice from MKR Technology, who driving in one of the Renault Trucks from Židovice with Dutch pilot Martin van den Brink.
The Mammoet Rallysport pilot in the end managed to drive the 372-kilometre-long route from Smara to Assa in the sixth fastest time with a ten-minute gap to the winning Belarussian Visneuski with MAZ. But only three minutes behind the leader in a fourth place was the second North-Bohemian truck of Riwald Dakar with pilot Gert Huzink. This position got the crew back into top ten in the overall standing - they are on ninth position. Van den Brink is now sixth with a half-hour loss to Voerman, leader on MAN. “Today we had a half-hour break after some two hundred and fifty kilometres. During this time we replaced both rear tires for safety reasons. We wanted to avoid any possible problems, and so it happened. But it is scorching heat here. The temperature is between thirty-five and forty degrees. We're going with the windows open, so dust and sand are everywhere,”Kozlovsky remarked.
4th stage is taking place on Tuesday, goes from Assa to Foum Zguid and is 425 km long. It begins on the legendary Dakar track, which runs through South Morocco's largest military zone. Desolate but beautiful landscape and big jumps promise a true cross-country rally.
