Martin Macik’s truck reached the finish of the 4th stage in a well-deserved 10th place, securing an excellent 4th position overall. Wednesday’s stage was a big unknown for the Big Shock Racing team. Martin Macik and his co-drivers Tomasek and Svanda did not know before the start how their racing special Charles would perform after the night intervention of mechanics who tried to discover the cause of the lower performance of the car in the 3rd stage. Fortunately, the truck was once again driving at full throttle, showing his power right at the beginning of a difficult stage, which brought 2 punctured tires, trial in the rocky mountains and more chasing of the Kamaz trucks.
Jan Brabec is a body and soul fighter, which he again demonstrated in stage 4 when he finished in 65th place and ranked 40th overall, after having been penalized for a missed point when his navigation stopped working. Meanwhile, he has been managing to keep racing ego under control, realizing that Dakar is only now beginning to get challenging and it will be good to try and distribute energy reasonably. The legendary race is getting tougher and also, Jan’s navigation did not work during this stage, so he drove most of the route guessing the points based on tire tracks on the ground. Brabec is convinced that this year’s Dakar will be won by everyone who succeeds in getting across the finishing line. It is much more demanding this year for bikers compared to previous years.
Macik found the lost horsepower under the hood
In the fourth stage, the 30-year-old pilot from Sedlcany, Martin Macik won 10th place with his crew and still holds a great 4th position overall. But this time, it wasn’t easy at all. “In the beginning, it went all well. We were fast, Loprais gave us the way, and we chased around the Kamaz trucks. Then suddenly… imagine that you are climbing on rocks with a truck. Well, it cost us two tires and we only bring with us two spares each stage. There were still 70 kilometers to go and there were rocks everywhere. We were all quite tense at that point. But David inflated the tires so that they would hold, Frantisek found the shortest way, and, fortunately, we got to the finish all right. The good news is that Charles is back at his full potential, so we can go for it tomorrow,” Martin Macik said. Even though the Czech truck slowed down towards the end of the stage to prevent another punctured tire, everyone was in a good mood in the finish. Frantisek Tomasek was happy that he had finally gathered some good stories for the upcoming ‘Obsessed with Dakar’ sessions, which will take place all over the Czech Republic and also in Bratislava right after the Czech team returns. For the Big Shock Racing team, the most important thing is that the mechanics from Sedlcany managed to find and correct the malfunction that reduced the performance of the racing special.
Brabec completed the stage without navigation
The Big Shock Racing team’s motorcyclist Jan Brabec finished the fourth stage in 65th place and is 40th overall after a penalty for missed points. The race is in full swing and fatigue is inevitable, which increases the risk of motorcyclists making a mistake. This is also demonstrated by the sharp decrease in the number of bikers who can reach the finishing line after each stage. “My task is clear: drive carefully and keep an eye on the navigation. I’ve been doing fine so far, but it’s brutal. Anyone who manages to finish this year’s Dakar is a winner. I’m getting off my bike after nine hours. My speedocup and azimuth did not work because of a connection error. I was mostly guessing when looking for the points and overall, it was not a pleasant ride today. But I’m in the finish in one piece, that’s the main thing,” Brabec said.
Watch the video from the 4th stage!
