The Big Shock! Racing team’s driver Martin Macik, navigator Frantisek Tomasek and mechanic David Svanda, won the Rallye du Maroc. They are also taking home 3 stage victories. Their Cenda, a new truck built by the developers of the MM Technology team from Sedlcany, went through the thorough testing it needed. All its minor bugs were successfully fixed, mainly thanks to the excellent performance of the mechanics from Sedlcany. More than 2000 kilometres driven in a new car in rough terrain is the best test they could have asked for. Cenda passed the test and did very well. The crew was not thrown off by a broken front window, torn side panels, or a loose cooler. They managed to get by without the tools they had lost along the way and finish the stage despite running out of tires. The joy is all the greater that the second fastest truck of the Rallye du Maroc, driven by Kees Koolen from Project 2030, was built by the Sedlcany constructors at MM Technology. After returning home, however, there will be no time to celebrate. The November deadline for the handover of racing vehicles to sail to the 2023 Dakar venue in Saudi Arabia is around the corner. Five trucks built in the Sedlcany workshops should sail on board the ferry this year.

Preparation for the Dakar – all inclusive

The head of the Dakar Rally, David Castera promised in June in Prague that the next Dakar will be really challenging. Rallye du Maroc is organized by the same people, and it is intended to be a test before January’s Dakar rally. Judging from this year’s Rallye du Maroc, Castera is keeping his promise. This year’s Moroccan rally did not spare anyone. Completing some of the stages and continuing the competition the next day was not easy. But Martin Macik could not have chosen a better test for the new racing truck. “We won, that’s great. But above all, testing Cenda before Dakar went well. Morocco is extreme – dunes, riverbeds, rocks. I’d say it’s even harder than the Dakar. And this year, it was really rough. We dragged the new truck through hell and back, but that’s why we were here. After five stages, and over two thousand kilometres, we have what we need,” Martin Macik said. The rally was also demanding from a navigational point of view. “It was good practice for me as a navigator. It was tricky, we got lost and wandered a bit several times, all of us, and we had to help each other out. But I’m satisfied. Now I can rest for three months before the Dakar begins,” the navigator Frantisek Tomasek reported.

Cenda makes the team happy

Macik’s new truck was finished at the MM Technology workshops just before the Moroccan rally. The crew rode in it for the first time in Morocco. Now, after winning the final 5th stage and the overall Rallye du Maroc, the crew can confirm the new truck has proven itself. “Cenda is more comfortable and, above all, much faster than its predecessors. In the beginning, we were a little afraid of some bugs and issues, we only got to test it here in Morocco. But we eliminated most of the problems relatively quickly. Some of them have to be dealt with in Sedlcany. But we know about them, we are already clear about what needs to be adjusted before the Dakar,” Martin Macik said after crossing the finish line of the final stage, which had to be shortened by 30 kilometres due to thick fog preventing rescue helicopters from flying.

It is peak time for the Dakar preparations

Although the new truck did well, it will undergo another thorough inspection after returning to Sedlcany. The mechanics, overseen by the MM Technology team boss Martin Macik, Sr., already have a list of modifications they want to focus on in the final phase of preparation for the 2023 Dakar. That is enough workload to keep them busy until the trucks are sent to Saudi Arabia in November. In addition to taking care of Martin Macik’s special, the mechanics from Sedlcany will also prepare other vehicles. Four more trucks from MM Technology workshops should appear on the track of the legendary long-distance rally. Their crews will also use the service and mechanical skills of Czech professionals.

Martin Macik will not be idle during the countdown to the 2023 Dakar, either. He has several surprises for the fans of Big Shock! Racing team, which he will unveil soon.