Despite the promise of a dramatic stage due to early morning rain, Martin Macik Jr. and his crew maintained a controlled approach. Their third-place finish on the demanding 419 km loop around Al Duwadimi was enough to comfortably stay in the overall lead and keep their advantage over the competition.

A Duel in the Dunes

Unlike yesterday, today’s stage saw competitors reaching the dunes in daylight, giving them a perfect chance to push their machines to the limit. The first half of the stage turned into a head-to-head battle between the black-and-white truck “Benny” and another identical EVO4 truck from the Sedlcany-based technology center.

“A big part of the stage was rough and rocky, but we also got to enjoy the dunes. There, we had a proper chase with Mitchel van den Brink, who’s running virtually the same truck as our Benny. By the end, the leaderboard got shuffled quite a bit, and we lost a few minutes, but luckily, nothing major,” recapped pilot Macik Jr. after another day at the Dakar.

Navigational Masterclass

This year’s Dakar has proven to be a true navigational challenge and today was no exception. With different categories running different routes, following misleading tracks could easily lead to costly detours. But with Frantisek Tomasek calling the shots, MM Technology stayed right on course.

“They’ve been warning us about this stage for a while. I knew there would be tons of crisscrossing tracks, and if we followed the wrong ones, we’d miss waypoints and lose time. Luckily, I can proudly say we hit every waypoint,” Tomasek reported.

Precision Over Recklessness

Today’s lost minutes weren’t due to navigation but rather the crew’s methodical approach. Mechanic David Svanda explained why a careful strategy is often the smarter choice over blind flying through the terrain.

“A couple of times, something felt a bit off, so we stopped to check. It’s always better to be safe—because something as trivial as a rock wedged somewhere can turn into a serious problem if ignored. Instead of losing a few minutes, you could be looking at an hour or even an entire stage gone,” Svanda noted.