MKR brought eleven medals from Morocco

1.5.2017

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The North Bohemia based MKR Technology gave an excellent performance at the Morocco Desert Challenge, a globally recognized rally which whose significance closely follows that of the famous Dakar and Russian Silk Way. Not only did the truck carrying the Roudnice based mechanic Daniel Kozlovský on the board repeat its triumph from the last year, but this time also the second special, piloted by the Dutch Huzink, made a great result. Thanks to that the Czech Renaults are taking home a fantastic double from Morocco.

            “After the Dakar we spent a lot of time working on the technology. We knew what we had struggled with the most and tried to eliminate all the risk. Last year we effectively lost a year of development works because after all the trouble we had to restore the technology. This cost us a lot of energy but I believe weve put bad luck behind us and will be able to work towards success more consistently. Sure, there are things to improve, but the guys were very happy with how the technology performed. After all, the results refected that,” commented the happy Mario Kress, chief constructor of the North Bohemia based MKR Technology, who prepared two Renault Trucks racing specials for the Dutch Mammoet Rally Sport and Riwald Dakar teams. The two teams collaborated with each other throughout the whole Morocco Desert Challenge.

            However, the start of the race called Libya Rally until last year did not seem that promising for either of the two crews. Martin van den Brink and Daniel Kozlovský on the Sherpa arrived on third place. Huzink, piloting the trambus K520, crossed the finishing line on fifth place. “Two defects caused those results. Moreover, Gert got stuck twice and upon the second attempt to retrieve him the rope cracked and we had to wait for more help. Let’s just say we had some bad luck right at the beginning, but no drama took place. If we always had only problems like these, it would be smooth sailing,” smiled the crew mechanic Daniel Kozlovský.

            Nevertheless, from then on they were on a winning streak and the worst recorded result was second place. Out of seven stages van den Brink’s truck managed to dominate in four of them, adding two silver medals and one bronze. Gert Huzink gave his worst performance in the concluding stage, which was cut short, completing it on thirteenth position. However, he had jumped up the podium a total of four times. He won stage five and was second twice and third once. Overall, the Renault Trucks crews collected eleven valuable medals, which secured first two ranks for them. “If only the Dakar would turn out like this for us,” wishes Mario Kress for an ideal run.

            In the seven racing days of the Morocco Desert Challenge the crews had to tackle the route from the coast of the Atlantic Ocean along the Algerian border to the Mediterranean, which stretched over two thousand and two hundred kilometres.

            „This year there were zero liasons, which is a new trend, with the crews starting and finihing at a bivouac each stage. No extra kilometres. This concept is certainly attractive, but also means a major test for the technology. And that did not disappoint us in Morocco,“ concluded MKR Technology‘s boss Mario Kress.

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