9.7.2017
The world’s toughest rally is under way! Among participants of the Silk Way Rally, which started in Russia on Saturday, are also Renault Trucks specials constructed by the Czech MKR Technology team. The opening - and brief - leg one saw Pascal de Baar and his crew arrive on seventh place.
This year’s rally commenced with a symbolic start podium and introduction of the crews on Moscow’s Red Square on Friday. The first racing stage was scheduled for Saturday and stretched from Moscow to Tcheboksary, where the teams had to complete a long road section first in order to reach the 61km special. The muddy terrain suited best to the Czech pilot Martin Kolomý. Pascal de Baar and his Renault from North Bohemia came four minutes later, occupying seventh place. The elite ten was concluded by Martin van den Brink with the Roudnice native Daniel Kozlovský as his mechanic. Their crew was holding on to second place for a long time from the start, but eventually decided to slow down their tempo. Thirteenth rank went to the third of the Dutch pilots taming trucks from the Czech R&D centre, Gert Huzink. “The entire stage took place in rain and mud. The rally has just begun and we decided to go for a more careful driving style. The trucks are in great shape and the drivers were happy with them. We have a lot of hard days ahead of us and our goal is the best possible result at the end,” commented Mario Kress, chief constructor and boss of MKR Technology, with calm.
The next stage will offer similar conditions as the first. The crews will have to negotiate some very narrow and technical sections. However, the route from Tcheboksary to Ufa is almost 800km long this time, with the racing special stretching over 157km.