Van den Brink with Kozlovsky is 7th after the 4th stage

7.1.2021

Both Renaults from Židovice moved up one place in the overall ranking. After the 4th stage of the Dakar Rally, the Roudnice technician Kozlovsky and pilot van den Brink are now holding the seventh position. This time the crew just got into the elite ten.

"We have just finished the longest stage of this year. Overall, it was tiring, especially for boys who were busy during the demanding night service. But the stage as such was relatively easy. Martin does not try to do anything extraordinary and drives more carefully, but I can see how he gets used to the truck more and more. So far, we can be satisfied. We still have a long way to go, so too much excitement could cost us more than we can gain now," said Daniel Kozlovský, technician of the MKR Technology team from Roudnice, who is in the cabin of a red truck of the Dutch Mammoet Rallysport team with Martin van den Brink and navigator Wouter van den Graaff.

On the fourth day of the race, the crews moved to the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, after a pleasant two-day stay in Wadi Ad-Dawasir. From start to finish they had to cover over eight hundred kilometers. The timed section had nearly three hundred and forty kilometers. The leader of the overall classification, Russian Sotnikov with Kamaz, managed to win the stage just under three hours. Martin van den Brink lost ten minutes in tenth position. His country fellowman Pascal de Baar from the Riwald Dakar team came two positions behind him.

Although the leader only extended his lead, changes took place on other positions. The Czech pilot Martin Macík jumped to provisional second place. And both pilots of the Židvoce Renault from the workshop of Mario Kress jumped up one position. Van den Brink is now seventh, de Baar is approaching top ten in twelfth place.

At the same time, more good news came from Saudi Arabia. Technicians managed to repair Gert Huzink's truck and the engine is running again after severe damage. The crew will be able to jump into the second half of the Dakar and, with the only hybrid in the competition, they will try to achieve succeed in a single stage in the most prestigious long-distance race in the world.

On the fifth day of the race, a stage from Riyadh to Al Qaisumah, the starting field has to cover over six hundred and sixty kilometers, including a timed section with almost four hundred and sixty. The rugged special section goes through dune field in the middle section and on hard stony passages there is risk of punctures.