Truck built by MKR sweeps up overall win in Rally OiLibya

10.10.2016

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Sensational! Truck from the Czech based MKR Technology takes home another valuable trophy from the Morocco Rally OiLibya, repeating the triumph from last year. The result is even more juicy as it was recorded by the Dutch pilot Gert Huzink who was racing on the new special for the first time and the overall win is its biggest success in a distance rally to date.

“What more could I wish for? First rally on a new truck and a victory, Naturally, it is clear that our construction path is going in the right direction. Gert had a lot of praise for the technology and the whole truck. There’s always something to improve but this is definitely a premiere one dreams of,” commented the happy Mario Kresss, chief constructor and boss of the MKR Technology team. 

The start itself suggested that the truck piloted by the Dutch pilot of the Riwald Dakar Team had a chance at a great ranking. Moreover, it was carrying the experienced crew mechanic Daniel Kozlovský from Roudnice nad Labem in the cockpit. The Morocco rally had been primarily a testing one for Huzink to get a grasp of the new truck and get used to it as much as possible before the famous Dakar, the team’s main objective. The plan worked out more than 100%. Huzink reached the fastest time already in the prologue, a 7km sprint. Fifth place in stage one followed. Afterwards, he finished second in stage two and dominated in stage three At that moment he was maintaining second rank overall, following up with a win not only among trucks but in the whole ‘Open’ category in stage four. This helped him beat Belgium’s Rotsaert in the lead and move to the top of the race. At that point the crews had only one last stage to go which stretched over two hundred and thirty kilometers. Huzink triumphed again and it was no doubt MKR Technology could celebrate another win from the OiLibya Rally. Last year their truck achieved a historic first gold medal here thanks to the Dutch pilot Martin van den Brink of Mammoet RallySport. Now the most valuable prize was taken home by his fellow countryman Gert Huzink who teamed up with the Czech crew mechanic Daniel Kozlovský and co-pilot Robert Bernadus Buursen. “Given the streak of back luck we’ve been facing so far this year I’m incredibly happy about a result like this. Failure must not take us down. We’ve always managed to get back on our feet and push through, that’s why we can celebrate again now. Every team member worked one hundred percent here and the team spirits were amazing. It’s all a major motivation in the lead-up to the Dakar. We continue to show we are indeed a competition to be reckoned with and when the fortune favours us we can bring home the much desired Dakar bedouin.” 

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