Driver Martin Macik is headed for his 11th Dakar, which will vary in many ways from the previous years. He’ll ride out in a new truck named Cenda. Their first start took place at the recent Rallye du Maroc and resulted in a victory. Macik’s truck will have a change in colour after 11 years in honor of the new chief sponsor – it’s going to be orange and black. Martin will also stand at the start of Rally Dakar in January as a rider of the MM Technology factory under which he and his father develop, build and maintain racing trucks – Cenda being one of those. But during the following Dakar, the mechanics of Sedlcany will be looking after three more trucks built for foreign teams. Nevermind the changes, the essential fact remains. That along with Martin Macik, the cabin will consist of the well validated crew – co-pilot Frantisek Tomasek and mechanic David Svanda. And what the racers of Sedlcany plan on, like in the previous years, is to properly enjoy the upcoming Dakar and to share their experiences with the fans.
Everything is gradually coming together
„It’s going to be a major change for us. But change is life. The next Dakar and the whole upcoming season, I will be the factory rider of our MM Technology brand, under which we develop racing trucks. And also in the colours of our new chief sponsor that is IVAR CS. We thank them very much for their support, we appreciate it a lot. Our cooperation began years ago with their logo on our helmets and has been expanding ever since. I look forward to the Dakar in orange that is ahead of us. Everything is gradually neatly coming together,“ Martin Macik said. But the driver of Sedlcany also admits that every change is difficult and affects many areas. New colours are being put on. Not just the whole vehicle park, including Frantisek, but also the Liaz trucks for practise and even other team assets. „Dakar is our life and we are going through quite a fruitful season. We work from morning to evening to make it through everything. But we are happy for every time that something goes right. We were the pioneers in the category of trucks this year, considering world championship. Kees Koolen has won with the truck made by us. Even though I didn’t finish at the race in Abu Dhabi I was second,“ Martin Macik said.
The work on Cenda is not over
Martin’s new turck is intensively being worked on in the workshops of MM Technology. New design is only one of many things that the mechanics must tune. „The first time Cenda had arrived in orange, it looked like a garbage truck. The tires were missing in the back so it even had footrests and it looked perfect. After we put black stickers on it, added logos and completed the design, it looked even better,“ Martin Macik said. After their return from the succesful Rallye du Maroc, the mechanics started improving the truck mostly from the technical side according to the data gathered during the race in Morocco. The work will conclude just before the departure for Marseille, where the vehicles will be given to the organizers of Dakar.
There will be four trucks that were made in Sedlcany at the Dakar rally
Four trucks made by MM Technology will be competing at the next Dakar. Apart from Martin’s Cenda, there will be Nicias of Project 2030, driven by Kees Koolen. Another iron in the fire of Dakar will be Arnost – about to be introduced in Saudi Arabia along with Firemen Dakarteam. The brand new truck called Jenda, which is the identical twin of Cenda, will be starting with Claudio Bellina from the team of Italtrans Racing at the wheel. „The Italian team already received the truck named Vincenzo from us, it was also supposed to go to Dakar. But its driver had to sign off due to his medical condition,“ Martin Macik added. All except the Firemen Dakarteam, which will do the mechanical work themselves, will be provided a complete maintenance from the mechanics of MM Technology. Thus the racers using trucks from MM Technology will share the same tent. The individual crews will be battling for the best results while they will also be ready to help each other anytime. They will be backed up by 4 service trucks packed with spares and mechanical equipment. One service car and five press cars will also join the wagon train of MM Technology.
We love everything regarding Dakar
Dakar is a great challenge for the team of Sedlcany. „We not only want to race but also to build trucks for other teams. That is coming true. The original plan was to build 5 trucks and to provide maintenance for them, which we were able to achieve quickly. And we carry on. I have a planned out the evolution for multiple years in advance. We are intensively working on an electric truck, which is very difficult, but we enjoy it and so we continue making progress. We are also developing other hybrid solutions including those running on various fuels of the future,“ Martin Macik senior, leader of the MM Technology team, explained. That is one of the reasons why the Macik family gathered capable people to strengthen their team. They also expanded their facilities with storage houses, supplies of spare parts and other related necessities. „Although our span of work is expanding, it must hold its quality and professionality. That’s why we moved on with a system that makes us able to build new vehicles while also maintaining the already functioning ones. Seyfor, formerly Solitea, helps us with that. They are another one of our partners. They specialize in IT technology,“ Martin Macik Sr. explained. It doesn’t end with development and racing. The team also puts on events for their fans on a regular basis. „We have just launched the presale of tickets for another round of our talk show called Obsessed with Dakar (Posedlí Dakarem), which will take off right after our return from Dakar at 9 different places in The Czech Republic and also in Bratislava. There is much going on but everything revolves around Dakar, we enjoy it and the activities add up to each other,“ driver Martin Macik said for last.
