The racers of the MM Technology team, pilot Martin Macik, navigator Frantisek Tomasek and mechanic David Svanda arrived at the finish line of Thursday’s 5th stage of the Dakar in 6th place and are still in 4th place overall. This time, the crew of the MM Technology team did not enjoy the 373 racing kilometers and 270 kilometers of liaison on the track, which had started and finished near the city of Ha’il. During the stage, one shock absorber of the truck from Sedlcany called Cenda got busted, so the competitors took some hard blows during the ride. Nevertheless, they managed to finish the stage in a great time with only an eight-minute loss. However, the sand overgrown with camel grass is no longer one of their favorite terrains.

A ride through camel grass without a shock absorber

After the winning campaign on Wednesday, the orange truck of the MM Technology team went on the track again today. Long plains with sandy climbs awaited the crew. The terrain was similar to yesterday’s, there were fewer racing kilometers, yet this time the Sedlcany competitors reached the finish line with more damage. “At the beginning, we flew nicely into the sands, that was great. Although the track was extremely jumpy from the start. At about the 70th kilometer, Cenda started to make strange noises. We continued for a while, but then we stopped and went to see what was going on. Fortunately, we discovered that only the left front shock absorber was damaged,” explains Martin Macik.

We are battered from all sides

Even though it was not a major technical problem, riding in the Cenda truck was not pleasant from that moment on, and the rest of the stage was not enjoyed by the competitors of the MM Technology team. “There were really hard blows. We drove as fast as we could. We tried not to do anything to the truck or ourselves and flew to the destination without any problems. The last tens of kilometers were the worst. Non-stop jumping, up down, right, left. We are battered from all sides. I have to say that the 5th stage was not fun for us at all, but we are at the finish line, and that is important. We will work again tomorrow,” reported Martin Macik. When mechanic David Svanda inspected Cenda more thoroughly at the finish line, he was quite satisfied. “There seems to be nothing wrong with the truck apart from that one shock absorber. Either it was a material defect or simply it just failed because it couldn’t stand the crazy non-stop blows,” the on-board mechanic summed up the situation.

We still have 9 stages ahead of us

“We have already experienced a lot at the Dakar this year. At the same time, we still have 9 stages ahead of us, and we are not even halfway there yet. It will get even more interesting,” reckons Martin Macik and thanks the fans for their huge support. Even today, they enjoyed a balanced battle at the front of the truck section, when the first special rally trucks reached the finish line in close intervals again. And another adventure is soon to come. Tomorrow, one of the longest stages of Dakar 2023, leading to Al Duwadimi, awaits the competitors. Together with liaisons, they will have to cover over 860 kilometers.