Martin Macik from the Big Shock Racing team is busy preparing for the Dakar Rally 2020. He spends the mornings in the gym, rides off-road around Sedlcany in his racing truck, and has recently been seen driving a tractor, too. “Whatever car you drive, you gather experience. Every ride will give you something. Driving a tractor is fun, plus you get to practice your concentration and driver’s reflexes. I drive the Valtra tractor, which is even listed in the Guinness Book of Records with its 130.136 km/h speed,” Macik said. Driving an agricultural vehicle borrowed from friends from TOPAGRI has captivated Martin so much that he decided to try racing, too, and because the pilot of the Sedlcany team usually does not set any small goals, he decided to participate in the Sumava Klatovy Rally. Fans of motorsport and adrenaline can look forward to Friday, April 26, when the popular race will start at Klatovy Square, as is the tradition, and Martin Macik will show his tractor driving skills.
One of the most important skills in Dakar is to deal with unexpected events and Martin Macik’s participation in the Sumava Klatovy Rally in a Valtra tractor may seem a little unexpected. But for Macik, it’s just another step in his racing career. “Gentlemen, which one of you, when you were little boys, didn’t want to ride in a tractor? I still want to do so at the age of 30. I wish everybody could experience the feeling when you overtake a sedan in a tractor,”Martin Macik, the Big Shock Racing Dakar pilot, said.
From overtaking cars on the road, it was not far from regular races. “I want to try a real race in the tractor. That is why we have agreed with the organizers of the Sumava Klatovy Rally that they will let me participate. Last year, during the Rallye du Maroc, I also competed with regular cars and left a lot of them behind me,”Macik laughed and revealed another interesting fact: “Hardly anyone knows that our Dakar racing trucks have originally evolved from faecal and garbage trucks. So I do not rule out that we will use a few improvements from the tractor in the next Dakar,”the driver, for whom a new Dakar special is being built in the Big Shock Racing’s Sedlcany workshops, reported. “If there is ever a tractor Dakar, I’m in. The Valtra will be ready. I have also already have a team design for my vehicle,”Macik added.
Fans can thus experience another interesting challenge with Martin Macik. “At Dakar we have an allowed maximum speed of 140 km/h in the trucks, the Valtra can do almost the same, the WRC cars do 200 km/h. So it will be fairly balanced. I go head first into the training to have the best time possible. We’ll see. Keep your fingers crossed,”Martin Macik concluded.
