The Big Shock! Racing team’s mechanics are already in a rented space in Dubai, at the venue of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. They are repairing Charles, Martin Macik’s Dakar truck, and also working on Nicias, the Project 2030 team’s car, built in Sedlcany. Both trucks have to be in tip-top shape by Saturday, March 5, when the teams will have to undergo technical inspections. The cars and trucks start Stage 1 on Sunday, March 6. The event is the second round of the World Rally-Raid Championship.

Mechanics have been hard at work for several days

The race trucks had been sent to Dubai directly from Saudi Arabia just after the Dakar Rally. Last week, the head of the Big Shock! Racing and MM Technology, Martin Macik, Sr., arrived in Dubai, along with the Sedlcany mechanics, to get the specials back in shape before the race. “We arrived in the evening, spent the night in a hotel and set off on foot to the set first thing in the morning. We set up our service truck, which carries all the tools and a lot of spare parts, on the pavement, and got to work. Now we’ll just be screwing and unscrewing from dusk till dawn for the next few days. Charles has got a big rebuild coming up. We will be working on the chassis, changing the front axle, which Röhlig SUUS Logistics helped us transport here some time ago, and we’re very thankful for that. We’re also fitting a new turbo and other engine components to get the truck back to full power. Nicias also needs several parts replaced and a complete pre-start service,” the mechanic, David Svanda, reported from Dubai.

Last time with Charles?

The Big Shock! Racing team will take part in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in the traditional line-up – with the driver, Martin Macik, navigator Frantisek Tomasek, and onboard mechanic David Svanda. Their Dakar teammate Martin Soltys had decided to skip the race already in Saudi Arabia. The trucks of the Big Shock! Racing team and Project 2030 will compete in the new T5 category as pioneers. They believe more truck crews will join in the future. They will have a tough race ahead of them, with 1,822 desert miles (1,287 of which will be timed) to cover over five days. “I’m looking forward to a really tough rally. We know that the dunes there are not easy. It’s going to be an intensive race where one can’t lose pace and concentration. The important thing is that we are going to test some new things,” Martin Macik said. From the centre of Qasr Al Sarab, nestled in the dunes of the Empty Quarter, the long-distance drivers will venture out into the adjacent desert terrain during each stage. The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge will most likely be the last World Cup race that Macik’s crew will take part in with Charles, their favourite truck in which they finished in fourth place at Dakar 2021.

Martin Macik and Frantisek Tomasek will arrive at the race venue just before the start, straight from the ‘Obsessed with Dakar’ talk shows they are organizing for fans. The crew is also using the current events to support Ukraine, trying to help the mothers and children coming to the Czech Republic.

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