On Monday, the crew of the Big Shock Racing truck set off for stage 8 of this year’s Dakar. A 477-kilometre-long track near Wadi Al Dawasir was awaiting Martin Macik, Frantisek Tomasek and David Svanda. The yellow Iveco truck reached the finish of the stage in the 11th place and is 6th in the overall ranking. Today, the crew was seriously troubled by getting stuck in the dunes and a separated tread pattern on two tires. At the same time, the competitors were pleased with the cooperation between the truck drivers. The crew of the Big Shock Racing team would like to thank Martin Soltys for helping to rescue Charles when it got stuck in one of the dunes. Even with today’s adventure, the crew enjoyed the 8th stage and is going to fight until the very last kilometre of this year’s Dakar.

Jan Brabec did not get on his bike in the morning. After Sunday’s unfortunate event, stage 8 was cancelled for motorcycle riders.

Valuable Czech helping hand

Today, the driver Martin Macik, navigator Frantisek Tomasek and mechanic David Svanda enjoyed a wonderful stage with large dunes. The initial ride in the mild dust was developing ideally until one of the dunes stopped Charles at the peak. “In one of the larger dunes, we were avoiding a buggy, I manoeuvred badly and we got stuck. I was my fault. We went digging and prepared a rope. We would like to thank Martin Soltys, who pulled us out. Martin van den Brink, who also deserves respect, also tried to help us. It shows that fair play between truck crews still works. We helped yesterday and today we got helped. That pleased us,” Martin Macik said and the navigator Frantisek Tomasek added: “Then we were catching up with the others again and at the end of the stage, the tread pattern separated and we had to change the tire. It was a pity, but today’s ride was still worth it and the dunes were perfect. ”

Something seems to be wrong with the tires the Dakar team uses this year, because about a kilometre before the finish, a tread pattern separated from Charles’s right front wheel, but fortunately, it remained inflated and the crew managed to reach the finishing line without the need for further replacement. “In the past stages, we have practised changing tires, so today we managed it in about eight minutes and went on. We still have four stages ahead, one of which will be a marathon. It’s not over yet. We will fight until the very last finishing line,” David Svanda concluded.

Watch the video from the 8th stage!