Sensation! MKR celebrates historical win with Pascal at the Dakar
14.1.2016
Incredible news, huge sensation, fantastic result! The North-Bohemia based MKR Technology truck wins a Dakar Rally stage! The Dutch pilot Pascal de Baar brought his Renault Trucks special to the finish of stage ten in the absolutely fastest time, sweeping to a historic victory for himself as well as the Mammoet Rallysport team and the North Bohemia based constructor. Emotions and exhilaration are all the more untamed considering the fact that this was one of the hardest stages in the history of the famous competition.
“It’s indescribable how happy I am. I still can’t believe it. My mobile is overflowing with text messages from my friends. I guess I’ve never received so many congratulations in my life, I’m over the moon,“ says one Mario Kress, moved to tears. The main instigator of the spectacular success started the MKR Adventure project two years ago and this year’s Dakar is only the second in which a truck constructed all by himself and his team has been competing. What more could prove the extraordinary abilities of the German-born constructor?
However, the journey to the much-desired gold was more than distressful. Already in the second stage, which counted as the first recorded one, Mammoet Rallysport lost one of their two trucks in a fire caused by an overheated brake, putting Martin van den Brink, to whom Pascal de Baar was originally supposed to provide support in the race, out of the game. The team spirits dropped low but only until the next day, when de Baar showed that Renaut Trucks belongs to the elite. Gradually, he worked his way through to the top ten to achieve the main triumph in Wednesday’s stage ten, claimed by the experts to be the toughest one ever. Scorching desert heat and mainly the long and gruelling sand dunes around Fiambala with treacherous white sand – a stage for skilled desert pilots only. It was apparent that the turning point would come right here. Stage ten from Belén to La Rioja stretched over seven hundred and sixty kilometres, with the special section consisting of two hundred and eighty kilometres of the total. Apparently, de Baar thrived on the extreme terrain. Starting on fifteenth place, he started overtaking one opponent after another. Eventually, even former Dakar champions had to surrender. The Dutch racer securred a phenomenal win in five unbelievably exhausting hours. His fellow Dutch de Rooy lost over two and half minutes on him and the Russian Mardeev on Kamaz almost half an hour.
“Looking at the results now is just fantastic. Pascal gave a performance of a lifetime, proving that our trucks really have it in them to succeed in conditions extreme like this, and above all, they are able to collect victories. We could hardly get a better evidence than this. We’re still newbies here and there are things to improve. That makes the vision ahead all the more clear. Nevertheless, I insist on saying that without the necessary portion of luck, you can’t win the Dakar, regardless of how well-prepared your technology is. Well, now we can set the reason aside for a while, we won and we’re planning on enjoying that feeling. There are three days left and it is my sincere wish that we complete the race and fulfil our original goal – ranking among the first ten crews,“ concludes Mario Kress with an outburst of positive emotions.
Pascal de Baar has taken care of a hell of a sensation, yet he still can attain the goal mentioned above. He moved up to sixth place in the overall ranking, currently being the most successful pilot with a Czech connection at the Dakar. Gérard de Rooy leads by margin of two and half hours, followed by Russia’s Mardeev, who beats de Baar by one hour fifteen minutes.
Thursday’s stage eleven from La Rioja to San Juan is one of the longest episode of the 38th Dakar Rally, with a track of seven hundred kilometres. The special section is four hundred and thirty kilometres long. “There’s still a long way to go but I believe that we can tackle it successfully. We’ll do everything we can,“ added the determined Mario Kress.
