Macik 3rd fastest in Stage 9, earns the podium

It seems this year’s Dakar is going to be thrilling until the very end. Tuesday’s Stage 9 brought a great finish for the yellow Iveco truck from Sedlcany, manned by the crew consisting of the driver Martin Macik, navigator Frantisek Tomasek, and the onboard mechanic David Svanda. The Big Shock! Racing crew managed to squeeze in between the Russian Kamaz trucks during an extremely fast run through the rocky track and landed in a great third place at the finish, only three seconds away from the second position. Martin Macik is now 9^th in the overall rankings.

First time on the podium this year

Stage 9 of this year’s Dakar started a bit later. The organisers gave the crews who had been stuck in the ominous dunes of the previous stage more time to be ready for the start of the next stage. The Big Shock! Racing crew, however, finished the previous sandy special smoothly. And today’s stage was even better. They set a brutal pace from the start and were only slowed down by one of their competitors, who didn’t want to let the Sedlcany truck in front of them.

“It was a beautiful stage. Very fast. Sand here and there, otherwise we drove over gravel, rocks, trials. We went through beautiful valleys. The truck was in good shape, so we went on full throttle. I think we drove to victory today, just flying through the air. It was perfect. Frantisek’s navigation was top notch. Today’s third place is great, even though it could have been even better,” Martin Macik confessed at the end of the stage.

“Kamaz under pressure”

Martin Macik did not let the dominant Russians get away with it today. For most of the stage, he managed to stay in the TOP 3. When the title “Kamaz under pressure” appeared in the organizers’ results, the Czech fans cheered and watched the rest of the stage as the arrow marking the Big Shock! Racing truck approached the finish line. The whole team is ecstatic with the final result.

There are still three more stages in front of us this Dakar. And from the latest developments, it looks like they are going to be very interesting. Martin Macik’s crew is ready to fully enjoy them together with the team’s fans.