The Moroccan rally was the most difficult race test
16.10.2022
One of the most difficult races has been completed by the MKR Technology team. At the same time, the Morocco Rally was originally supposed to be just a proper test before the famed Dakar. In the end, it was a significantly more demanding test, which brought a whole range of new information and findings. Despite all the problems, Mario Kress' Renault Trucks racer was always able to be on the podium position halfway through each stage, just behind the winner.
"This year's Moroccan rally was clearly the most demanding and hardest race I have ever experienced. We all dug deep to the bottom of our physical and mental strength, but I'm glad that no one stopped fighting. The conditions were the same for everyone, so all excuses are completely useless. The route, full of stony and hard roads, gave all the equipment a decent load. The truck was in worse condition after a few days, than it is after the entire Dakar. It was a desperate sight at times, but we managed to hang on and I'm glad the race is over. We definitely have something to look back on," said the lead designer and head of the MKR team Technology from Chvalín in North Bohemia Mario Kress.
Kress' team prepared a C 460 Renault hybrid truck for the race, which went out in the white and green colors of the Dutch Riwald Dakar Team with pilot Gert Huzinek. The six-day race began with a symbolic nine-kilometer prologue in Agadir. In this prologue, Huzink showed the power of his machine and finished only a just seconds behind the winning Czech Martin Macík. However, all chances for the longed-for overall success went dead in the opening 1st stage from Agadir to Tan Tan. The Renault crew had to stop and wait for help due to a damaged rear axle. Mechanical support meant a 14-hour penalty.
In the 2nd stage from Tan Tan to Laayoune, almost four hundred and forty kilometers long, including almost three hundred and twenty kilometers of timed sections, the line-up around Gert Huzink was much better after the hardships of the previous day. In the second section Martin crossed the finish line in second place despite stops due to punctures.
3rd stage brought another drama. The crew had an excellent start to the 300-kilometer race with the start and finish in Laayoune. They got to the front of the race very quickly and practically kept the first position until the very end. But just six kilometers before the finish line, smoke and flames shot out from the side of the truck. The crew stopped and was able to extinguish the burning truck. But the fire damaged bundles of electric cables and it was not at all certain that they would continue in the competition. After a sleepless night, the technicians miraculously prepared the truck for the 4th stage. And it seemed for a long time that golden satisfaction would come to them. In the longest stage of this year from Laayoune to Tan Tan, with 346 kilometers of timed section, Huzink went for victory "on paper", but just twenty kilometers before the finish line he had to stop due to another puncture with no spare tire. He was helped by the Czech crew of Martin Macík, but Huzink fell to fifth place. In the end, he said goodbye to the race with a silver position. He won this in the final 5th stage from Tan Tan to Agadir. Again, it looked like gold, but the organizers shortened the last stage due to fog and the results were taken from the passage where Huzink was still second behind the winning Macík.
In the end, the North Bohemian truck took three second places and was sixth in the overall ranking. Martin Macík was happy about the victory in Rally Morocco. "We did a lot of work on the engine and the entire suspension system. On the other hand, there were little things that we still have to work on. It is necessary to learn from all failures and especially to make it to Dakar," concluded Mario Kress, adding that before moving to Dakar in December, the truck will pass a show in Holland at the traditional Preprologue.
