“It's a step into the unknown“

Karel Trneny is taking part in his second Dakar in 2023, but in many ways it will feel like a debut for the Czech driver alongside his business partner Milan Horyl. Karel has been racing for over 25 years, taking part in his first rally back in 1997. He has become a seasoned regular on his national circuit, winning the Czech Sprintrally title in 2007 and still participating in 14 events throughout a busy 2022. In 2017, Karel did the Dakar behind the wheel of a fast assistance truck, providing support for top Czech driver Martin Prokop and the Buggyra team. This time around he will be competing for himself in the cars, and looking to transfer his European rally skills to the Saudi desert in a Ford F150 Raptor. The car already featured at Dakar 2020, when Boris Vaculik brought it home in 56th place, although Karel and Milan have stripped it down and rebuilt it ahead of Dakar 2023. The two entrepreneurs only decided to enter the world's toughest rally a few months ago, so it has been quite an achievement to get everything ready in time for the prologue on 31 December. The Workoutland ACCR Czech team have no specific goals in mind for this Dakar; they just want to get their Ford to the finish line in one piece and build up some experience for future editions.

K.T.: “I've done classic rally since 1997. It's been an interest and a hobby throughout my life, with all the necessary support from my family. The Dakar is the next step which I thought wouldn't come. Milan is a motorsport rookie, but like me he's always had a positive attitude about racing. The Dakar is Milan’s big dream, so I’m expecting good chemistry between us; that's very important to survive. Milan and I are business partners, and our racing relationship comes primarily from our dreams. We only decided to compete at Dakar 2023 a few months ago after talking about them. The Dakar was the biggest dream for us, so it was easy to decide and say yes, we can do it. Everything has been so fast. We put the whole team and equipment together in just two months, finishing barely hours before the scrutineering checks. There wasn't enough time to test or race together. This year will just be about experiencing the Dakar as it is and preparing for the coming years. Driving a truck in 2017 was a completely different story: big vehicle, less comfort. And as fast assistance, it wasn’t about being on the podium, but staying behind Martin Prokop and Buggyra and supporting them. That's why we quit after four stages and continued as a regular service crew. I'll admit that racing in the dunes is very different to classic rally! For us it's a step into the unknown, and we'll have to race with calm heads. Despite the limited time, we've done our best to prepare for the rally. We spent a few days in Saudi Arabia training in the dunes and learning racing styles on different types of sand. Our objective for this Dakar is pretty simple: we would like to see the finish line. We're a completely new team with a new car, so it'll be more about testing and gaining experience instead of pushing the throttle.“