Big Shock! Racing team’s driver Martin Macik, navigator Frantisek Tomasek, mechanic David Svanda, and a brand-new racing truck named Arnold will compete on Friday, October 8 in the Rallye du Maroc, the most demanding rally practice before the 2022 Dakar. Depending on the results, the Czech driver will decide whether to choose a new, improved Arnold for the Dakar, or stay with the older, tried-and-tested Charles, with which he won 3 stages at the 2021 Dakar. However, another new racing truck arrived from Sedlcany to Morocco, also built in the Czech ‘MM Technology’ workshops under the supervision of the team leader, Martin Macik, Sr. The truck, with the code name Vincenzo, was built for an Italian crew.
It’s not bad to have a choice
The upcoming Rallye du Maroc is mainly practice for the Big Shock! Racing team, which is to reveal the ‘bugs’ of Arnold, a new team truck that was completed in the Sedlcany ‘MM Technology’ workshops just before leaving for Morocco. Whether Martin Macik will drive Arnold in the 2022 Dakar has not yet been decided. “Everything is open at the moment. I’ll see how Arnold and I are getting on in Morocco. In Sedlcany, we have Charles ready in the best possible condition. It’s reliable and fast. I will decide after the Rallye du Maroc. In any case, it’s not bad at all when one can choose from two brilliant trucks before the Dakar,” Martin Macik said.
They also built a truck for the Italian team in Sedlcany
Another new special from the Sedlcany workshops, will also race. “I think the success and resilience of our technology in recent years has earned respect. Foreign crews interested in Charles’ twin contacted us,” Martin Macik, Sr. explained. Among the crews were representatives of the Italian company ItalTrans. They ordered the construction of an identical truck as Charles. “Interestingly, the person behind the team raced with me at the 2004 Dakar in Africa. So, they came to us, and we made a deal. The special, which has the code name Vincenzo in our workshop, will now be tested by its Italian crew,” Martin Macik, Sr., added. It was his experience and development that is behind the construction of the new truck. The Italian crew wants to complete in the new truck from Sedlcany the 2022 Dakar Rally. The Czech mechanics from ‘MM Technology’ should provide their Italian partners with a complete technical service and development of the truck.
Navigators are looking forward to the new features
The caravan of Big Shock! Racing service cars, transporting Arnold on a carrier, set off to Zagora at the end of last week under the direction of Dakar veteran Ladislav Fajtl. The rest of the expedition flies to Marrakech and from there is transported to Zagora, the venue of the Rallye du Maroc, in rented cars. All members of the team are looking forward not only to testing the new trucks in the Sahara dunes but also to the new organizational features, which will also appear at the Dakar in three months. “Navigation has changed again. There are more buttons. The Moroccan rally always helps me to get used to the new things,” the navigator Frantisek Tomasek said. As a member of the priority crew, he already had the opportunity to test the intricacies of the electronic roadbook during this year’s Dakar.
The Rallye du Maroc will start on Thursday, October 7 with morning technical inspections, an introductory prologue awaits the competitors on Friday and the crew will reach the finish line after five exciting sandy stages on Wednesday, October 13.
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