MM Technology crew consisting of Martin Macik Jr., Frantisek Tomasek and David Svanda left for Yanbu in Saudi Arabia, where the Cenda racing truck and other equipment were waiting for them, early in the morning on the 1st of January. The orange truck first took to the open road from its bivouac in Alula on the 3rd of January 2024 as a part of a private test before the start of the Dakar and successfully passed the scrutineering.

Journey to get Cenda right at the start of the year

While most of the nation was sleeping after celebrating the arrival of the new year, pilot Martin Macik Jr. together with navigator Frantisek Tomasek, mechanic David Svanda and other members of the team left for Prague’s Vaclav Havel Airport early in the morning on the 1st of January to fly to Saudi Arabia. All the team’s equipment was waiting to be picked up in Yanbu, including the MM Technology factory truck – Cenda. “We went to pick up the equipment as soon as we could. Apart from a few minor things, it survived the journey just fine. We’re just giving Cenda a bit of a rinse and it’s ready to race,” says David Svanda, describing the reunion with the truck.

380 km to the bivouac

It’s not the first rodeo in Saudi Arabia, so everyone has already rehearsed a show called “get local SIM cards as fast as possible”. This proved a challenge this year, but a good thing was accomplished and the orange and black convoy was able to embark on the 380km crossing to the bivouac in Alula. Here, a dedicated space was already waiting near the other trucks from MM Technology, which are taking part in this year’s Dakar.

The first off-road test took place before the Dakar begins
Before the start of the Dakar, Cenda and his crew took their first private test in the terrain and went through administrative and technical checks. The test route was 26 km long and ran on flat, rocky pistas. It was mainly an opportunity to test not only the truck’s durability, but also the navigation. “We put Cenda through its paces first thing in the morning and everything works as it should. Frantisek also warmed up, because we were able to test the navigation. The post-test scrutineering was just a formality, most of it was done in Barcelona, so we are ready and looking forward to the race start!”, sums up Martin Macik Jr.