Čenda has gone through many improvements that even MM Technology fans could try for themselves. They and the team spent five days in the Ksar Ghilane oasis, during which they not only experienced extended rides with pilot Martin Macík Jr. in Čendov, but they also learned to conquer the dunes on four-wheelers and in off-road vehicles.
Before returning to the Czech meadows and groves, the new routes for Dakar 2024 were also unveiled, which, compared to last year, will only have 12 stages and a prologue. Riders can look forward to 60% of the new routes, which will lead through both dune fields and gravel, and will also return to the Wasteland.
Foto: MM Technology
Martin Macík with the crew during testing in Africa.
The delighted crew set out for the Tunisian desert with a clear goal – to test and debug the Chengdu as best as possible. The racing truck in orange-black colors received a tuned chassis and improved suspension of both the chassis itself and the cabin for the rest of the 2023 and Dakar 2024 seasons. The mechanics have also played with a lot of other little things that will help the special vehicle overcome all the pitfalls of the terrain.
It warms my heart, says Martin Macík about the second place in the Dakar. He too was close to clashing with the audienceVideo: Sport.cz, MM Technology
“Not everything can be done in the desert, so we still have a lot of work to do after returning home, but for example we completely retuned the shock absorbers together with our supplier FRT. We set up the entire chassis from the ground up, actually the entire car,” confides David Švanda, the team’s mechanic. Martin Macík senior is also satisfied with the results of the testing. “We succeeded in everything we wanted to improve after Dakar 2023, which we honestly did not even expect . But we really took the truck to the next level and we’re happy about it. We’re going back satisfied and with a lot of information that we’ll work with also within the MM Technology clients’ trucks in order to speed up and move our entire fleet forward,” he says.
The fans could also be satisfied. They have tasted the Dakar conditions firsthand and take the experiences with them for a lifetime.
Foto: MM Technology
Macík’s Čenda has a tuned chassis and a lot of gadgets.
Just on Saturday, along with the launch of registration, the organizers revealed news for the Dakar 2024, which will start on January 5 in Alula and finish on January 19 in the Yanbu region of the Red Sea. The race only has a prologue and 12 stages, but promises new routes for the most part, including several in the Wasteland, which is a desert.
“On the one hand, I regret the shortening of two stages, I really liked the last fourteen, so I would imagine the Dakar. On the other hand, 60% of new tracks await us, three completely new stages and also difficult not only at the end of the Dakar, but also at its beginning. I’m most looking forward to Alula because it’s a beautiful setting, and of course the Wasteland. There will be piles of sand, that’s important,” says Martin Macík jr.
Navigator František Tomášek adds: “The organizers promise much more difficult navigation than in the previous two years. So far we know that the first half will be wet, cold and hard, the sands will only come on the way back. I wonder what else they will come up with.”
