Technicians repaired Pascal's truck, both trucks continue
6.1.2022
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North Bohemian technicians of the MKR Technology recorded an incredible performance at the Dakar. Overnight, they were able to repair the heavily damaged Renault of Dutch pilot Pascal de Baar. He went in tear of joy when he was able to enter today's 5th stage a bit unexpectedly.
"We have accomplished something incredible. Pascal couldn't believe he was still in the game. There were tears in his eyes. I'm really proud of our whole team," said Mario Kress, head of the MKR Adventure project, when he finished all night work on the restoration of the damaged truck of Pascal de Baar in the morning. He had a hard impact in Wednesday's 4th stage on a challenging course after he was literally "launched" by a dune. The technicians, who had banked only few hours of sleep every day, even measured an overload of 7.8G in the cabin at that moment! But they were able to put together the severely damaged truck right before the start of the stage. "Every hour I went to see if the boys would make it. Just 3 minutes before the start, the truck was ready. Mario did a test drive and we set off immediately, but we had to drive carefully until the first neutralization and check the truck there immediately. But it went great. Although we were very nervous, the boys made it like new. A big hats off to all those who put it together like this. They would deserve a medal," the Dutch pilot Pascal de Baar praised the technicians from Chvalín, North Bohemia. In Thursday's 5th stage he was ranked 21st.
The pilot of the hybrid special Gert Huzink finished five positions better, despite the fact that he had to temporarily repair the leaking oil pan on the route of the 5th stage. "The technology suffered a lot during yesterday's stage, so today we decided to go slower a bit to get through without much damage. Today it was a stage during which the chassis had to endure a lot again. In addition, about a hundred kilometers before the finish, we found that we were leaking oil. We temporarily repaired the pan, topped up the oil and continued the last part of the stage very carefully to prevent any further loss," said Gert Huzink
Russian Karginov best managed almost three hundred and fifty kilometers long dirt and stony special section. His compatriot Sotnikov is still in the overall lead. Gert Huzink is currently 15th and his colleague, despite all the previous difficulties, is 22nd.
The crews remain in Riyadh, where the coveted day off awaits them after Friday's four hundred-kilometer 6th stage.
