The marathon stage is over, the crews are fighting for the top ten

11.1.2021

The two-day marathon stage of this year's Dakar is over. Two North Bohemian trucks managed its second half on Monday without any problems, as they both were competing on the edge of the top ten. However, the third truck was affected by technical difficulties in the previous stage, which made it impossible to start today's 8th stage. This is the final end for the hybrid special truck from northern Bohemia. But two Renaults by MKR Technology workshop are still successfully fighting, and Daniel Kozlovský, a technician from Roudnice, is sitting in one of them.

"We were very happy that even in these conditions we managed to repair the severely damaged engine of the hybrid truck and Gert was able to continue in the Dakar Experience, unfortunately after two stages, when he had great results, a similar problem came and this time it is final. Hats off to the crew, who tried to cope with the machinery. We weren't lucky and the technology fought this year's extreme condition. It is all the more great how our other two trucks managed the second marathon part,“ said Mario Kress, head of the North Bohemian design team MKR Technology.

The crew of the first hybrid truck in Dakar history spent the night in the dunes, fighting with engine oil pressure drop. She finally made it to the finish of the stage and got approval from the organizers to continue, but on the way to the start of Monday's 8th stage, the engine stopped working for the last time and a team of technicians had to finish for the special. The other two crews around the pilots Martin van den Brink and Pascal de Baar did an excellent job with the marathon stage and managed all the difficulties on their own. The losses in the 8th stage on the victorious Russian Shibalov were negligible. Van den Brink and Kozlovský from Roudnice arrived at the tenth time, de Baar just two positions behind him. The program included more than seven hundred kilometers from Sakaka to Neom with three hundred and fifty kilometers of special sections.

Russian Sotnikov is still leading the competition with his Kamaz. Van den Brink dropped to eighth place and de Baar maintained his eleventh position. Four stages still remain to the finish in Jeddah. The ninth stage is a five-hundred-and-eighty-kilometer-long loop with a start and finish in Neomo. The special section will take the crews to the shores of the Red Sea and then they will ride along the coast, and due to its length and diversity it is said to be one of the most difficult stages this year.