Today’s 10th, marathon stage of the Dakar 2020 was stopped at the 345th kilometre by the organizers. Due to strong wind, helicopters that ensure the safety of competitors could not take off. The drivers then moved to the marathon bivouac in Shubaytah, where they will spend the night without their teams, and they will have to repair their vehicles before the next part of the race themselves. The Big Shock Racing truck crew had a great time this stage. Martin Macik, Frantisek Tomasek and David Svanda finished in the excellent 6th place and hold the 6th position overall. The first part of the demanding marathon drive was also successfully overcome by the team biker Jan Brabec. After falling from the top of a sharp dune, despite breaking the handlebars on his motorcycle, he managed to repair them and reach the finish in one piece. He finished the stage in 86th place, ranking 37th overall.

Macik passed the dunes smoothly

On Wednesday, despite the dramatic development of the Dakar race, the Czech crew in the 504 truck enjoyed the ride. Pilot Martin Macik, navigator Frantisek Tomasek and mechanic David Svanda have together made it through the difficult track brilliantly the sharp dunes of which looked really dangerous. “It was a pleasant ride for us today. It looks like Mordor around here. The track’s mostly sandy, here are dunes and hard ground. These dunes had a very treacherous ending today. You go, you see nothing, and suddenly a high drop appears. Then, braking skills determine if you make it. We drove relatively at ease, not to make any mistakes. After all, it is a marathon stage. The wind is really strong. Today’s main navigation message was: Go straight,” Martin Macik said. After today’s stage, the crew does not have major technical problems, which this time, mechanic David Svanda would have to handle only with the assistance of his two colleagues. The Czech crew of the Big Shock Racing team will spend tonight in an improvised marathon bivouac in the company of other competitors. Assistants have a day off and will wait for their teammates in the original bivouac.

Nothing can surprise Brabec

Big Shock Racing’s motorcyclist Jan Brabec set off to the 10th marathon stage at his steady pace. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the stage, in one of the most critical sections of the track, where many other competitors had problems, the Czech driver had an accident. However, he managed to deal with the unpleasant fall professionally and managed to handle the broken handlebars of his bike he named after his grandmother, Agnes. “I’m fine. It was so dangerous today that the helicopters couldn’t take off. I went down on the 2nd kilometre and broke the handlebars. I managed to fix them, but I lost 30 minutes. My rear brake didn’t work well. But it’s okay, I’m not injured, nothing hurts,” Jan Brabec reassured the fans. We all firmly believe that in the marathon bivouac, he will succeed in getting Agnes to the best possible shape so that tomorrow, with his legendary chill approach, he will conquer the second part of the rough stage.

Watch the video from the 10th stage!