MKR leaving for Russia to tackle rough Silk Way Rally
5.7.2017
There is less than one week left before the next year of the world’s toughest rally starts. The Dakar is a legend, but the Russian Silk Way Rally tries hard to catch up with, or even exceed, its reputation and level of difficulty. Indeed, the organizers promise today that the next year will be even more attractive and competition there stronger. On the starting line there will be also three trucks of MKR Technology’s R&D centre based in the north of the Czech Republic. The one piloted by Martin van den Brink took home a bronze medal last year.
“Since the Dakar and our April triumph at the Morocco rally we’ve been working on technology some more. We’re still trying to focus on the suspension of shock-absorbers. The trucks have undergone complete service. Last week we conducted final tests in Slovakia. As far as technology goes, we’re all set and hope we’ll be lucky enough to be able to follow up on the podium result from last year,” says a wishful Mario Kress, boss of MKR Technology and chief constructor of the racing trucks which will start in the rally.
Moscow will see three Renault Trucks specials built by Mario Kress and his team start. At the steering there will be three well-proven pilots who have been moved around a little. Duo of trambus specials K520, piloted by Gert Huzink and Pascal de Baar, are going to represent the Dutch Riwald Dakar team. With them there will be last year’s bronze man of the Silk Way Rally Martin van den Brink of Mammoet Rally Sport, who will tame a Renault Sherpa special with the characteristic “nose” front. Onboard he will be carrying the crew mechanic Daniel Kozlovský from Roudnice nad Labem. “Silk Way is not demanding just during the racing stage, but also during its preparation and in terms of logistics. All technology will be away from the workshop for two months, and so everything must be perfectly tuned. At the moment the trucks are on their way to Russia. MKR team are flying to Russia on Tuesday,” commented team executive Klára Kress.
Silk Way Rally, the Euro-Asian cross country race, has been gaining in importance. New terrains have been prepared for this year. On their way to China the crews will have to pass through Russia and Kazakhstan. The gala opening will be held on 7 July on Moscow’s Red Square. The race will start with stage one the next day and finish in Xi’an, China, on Saturday 22 July. During the two extremely rough weeks the teams will have only one day off, 16 July, in Urumqui, Kazakhstan. The crews are going to complete almost ten thousand kilometres in fourteen stages. Special stages will take up over four thousand kilometres in total.
