The hybrid took fifth place in stage 4
9.1.2020
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Kress trucks are in top ten again. And this time it was the most watched truck, the hybrid, who made the news. The North Bohemian truck by MKR Technology team came in 5th position in the 4th stage of Dakar.
"Finally, it went all well and after a few unlucky days, the luck was with the boys, so they showed what they were made of,"Mario Kress, lead designer of MKR Technology team, was happy for the historically first hybrid truck on Dakar to finish among the elite.
Gert Huzink, the pilot of Riwald Dakar hybrid truck finished the fifth fastest time. He lost exactly fourteen minutes to the fastest Russian Shibalov. The fourth leg from Neom to Al Ula with over four hundred and fifty kilometers was completely dominated by the Russian Kamaz trucks. They have taken the complete podium for the first time. Shibalov was the best of them, ahead of his teammates Karginov and Sotnikov. However, there were two Renaults by MKR Technology in the elite top ten. The eighth place was taken by Pascal de Baar. His fellow countryman Martin van den Brink of the Mammoet Rallysport was twelfth this time, and it would not have been a Dakar, if there were no technical problems. This time it was pilot Richard de Groot, who had to fight with technical issues. While yesterday, the trio sitting in the Firemen Dakar fire-fighting Renault 520 could celebrate their 4th place, this time they were struggling on the course with gearbox. "The guys tried to stop and fix the problem during the stage, but unfortunately they did not succeed, so they had to continue significantly slower because they could not use some gears at all," said Daniel Kozlovský, MKR Technology team technician from Roudnice. The crew eventually lost slightly over two hours and was ranked 21st.
After the fourth day and the offense of Kamaz trucks, there is a new leader in overall standings of the trucks. Russian Karginov, the winner of the 2014 edition, has passed Belarus Viazovich. Pascal de Baar, who is currently ranked eighth and is the best of Židovice special trucks, jumped up one position.
On Thursday, Dakar continues with stage 5 from Al Ula to Ha'il with a total length of five hundred and sixty kilometers, three hundred and fifty kilometers are timed. This will be one of the most demanding sections - treacherous sand dunes, which will make up almost half of the stage course, will test perfectly the skills of every driver.
