Dakar Rally 2024: Macík’s Fourth Place Despite Challenges

There were times when Czechs would take fourth place among all ten trucks. But Martin Macík is paying for the world’s extra class, and fans and the media are delighted with his last two victories. But after two famous stunts, this time Dakar showed him its harsh face…

The beginning still looked promising, and Martin Macík and his crew, navigator František Tomášek and mechanic David Švanda, continuously held the first positions in each stage – even though they were full-throttle burners interspersed with very demanding trials on sharp lava stones. In the third stage, they even drove the last 30 kilometers on only three wheels and one rim at a speed of up to 80 km/h with a fireman at hand. “We were really scared,” admitted the fighters from Sedlčany.

But the problems started already in the second stage, when Maria Gameiro in a MINI, who wandered in search of a waypoint, got confused and missed a giant truck flying towards her at full speed when she returned to the race track – even the sharp reflexes of Martin Macík, who pulled the steering wheel at the last moment, could not prevent the collision, and Pepa (the name of their racing truck) was hit in the side. “It damaged several things, mainly the tank, in which we had 700 liters of diesel at the time. Fortunately, it was not so terrible, but some dirt got into our engine,” David Švanda explained the far-reaching effects of this relatively inconspicuous incident.

Another trouble came in the eighth stage, when they collided with the truck of Aleš Loprais in the dunes. This stirred up passions on the entire Czech internet, but as we noted, not only us, but above all the FIA, which investigated the whole situation, it was only an innocent racing incident. “In the dunes, the sentinel’s warning blares at us almost continuously, as cars in the vicinity stop and turn around when they are looking for points or a route. We were solving the trail just before and in a fraction of a second turned behind Aleš, and when we swung over the dune, we were already in him, it could not be prevented,” Martin Macík described the tense situation. Just a short distance away, Martin van den Brink flew into a stuck racing car with his truck in a similar situation, countless similar situations take place every day at the Dakar…

Although the crew managed to reach the finish line and the mechanics repaired the car, a huge blow came in the next stage – the car stopped moving. David Švanda was thus awaited by a field dissection-assembly, which took over three hours. “We took everything apart to finally find out that it was a turbo,” David Švanda shakes his head. But before they figured it out, everyone had passed them, the entire rest of the starting field, including the slowest tourists. “We were already thinking about giving up. Martin knew that the race was over, David didn’t know what to do with the car. We were already looking in the maps where we would connect to the road and reach the bivouac. But then we joked and said to ourselves that we will finish this race,” describes František Tomášek.

In the end, they actually found the problem, fixed it, and made it to the finish line (in the dark, which is pretty dangerous). And they continued on to at least support Mitchel van den Brink, who was continuously leading with the MM Technology truck. But Dakar also turned its back on him when, due to a driver’s error, he was left hanging on top of a dune and broke the gimbal. “Our trucks normally carry a spare part, but before the marathon stage, his mechanics said they would lighten the truck and removed the 30-kilo spare part. Instead, he spent not ten minutes repairing it, but fifty, before Darek Lysek drove up to him with another MM Technology truck and gave him his spare cardan,” explained Martin Macík senior. But with this delay, van den Brink lost the victory and ended up “only” third.

Martin Macík and his crew finished fourth in the final reckoning, which is not what he had hoped for, but compared to the humiliating retirement, it is actually a success. “The ambitions were absolutely clear, we were going for the third victory in a row, but the Dakar does not pass. However, from the point of view of MM Technology, we are satisfied, eight of our nine trucks made it to the finish line, six trucks were in the Top 9,” praises Martin Macík.

“We’ve always said that competition is healthy. Dakar 2026 was tough, but that’s why it’s important for us – in terms of development and experience. We know where we have to go, and the results are a motivation for us to push our trucks one step further. We brought a lot of knowledge that we will implement in development,” concludes Dakar 2026 Martin Macík Sr., head of MM Technology.

For MM Technology, this year will be marked by the preparation of the new EVO5 truck (which should be ready by October) and the construction of new customer trucks (the number will be specified during the year), Martin Macík and his crew will complete the traditional test in Tunisia and the Baja Aragon and Rallye du Maroc races in preparation for Dakar 2027. Hopefully he will show them his friendlier face again.

Because this year he demonstrated again (to Macík and many other participants) that you can be the most prepared, you can have the fastest truck, a super-fast pilot and an experienced crew, but it’s still not a guarantee of success. Just one dune and…

Again, Macík et al. they have plenty of experiences and stories for talk shows Obsessed with Dakardefinitely don’t miss it!