“You need to put the puzzle together.”

At just 29 years of age, Martin Macik is one of the rising stars of the truck category. Having made his debut as a navigator for Vlastimil Vildman in 2013, the Czech driver and entrepreneur is preparing for his fifth Dakar behind the wheel, and will be looking to build on his excellent results of recent years. After retiring in 2015 and coming 19th in 2016, he managed to crack the top 10 in 2017 before finishing fifth last year. His consistent progression suggests that he will be giving Kamaz, De Rooy, Maz and the rest a run for their money this time around -and perhaps even targeting a first Czech win in the trucks since the legendary Karel Loprais in 2001. Martin's father, Martin Macik Senior, began participating in the Dakar in 2003, and gave his son the bug by taking him to watch the end of the rally in Senegal. In 2016, they created the Big Shock Racing team, which encourages professional racers and amateur enthusiasts to take part in the world's biggest rally. This year, Martin enjoyed wins in Poland and Morocco, although a lack of direct competition meant he often found himself racing against the cars! Mechanic Lukas Kalanka joins Martin and navigator Frantisek Tomasek in 2019, having driven half a day from the appropriately named town of Martin in Slovakia for an interview at the Big Shock Racing offices in the Czech Republic.

“I've been training with Jan Brabec, who'll be riding for Big Shock Racing again in the bikes. It's good fun hunting him down! The team is getting younger and younger and we're giving Czech racing a fresh image. For me it's never too early to get excited. I work on Dakar throughout the year, and we're getting to the top level of the truck category. After Dakar 2018 finished, about 80 per cent of my life was still about Dakar; not only the physical preparation side of things, but also marketing, branding, sorting out new equipment. We're also building two new trucks. It's lots of work but I'm excited. "My first Dakar as a driver I didn't finish, then it was 19th, 10th, 5th… The Dakar is really about luck, not only about being fast. It's everything. You need to put the puzzle together. Focus, calm down, don't rush -but you still have to be fast. “Lukas arrived at the office for an interview with my father, but he had forgotten so I did it. It turned out he had come with his girlfriend and son from Martin, the town in Slovakia, after driving for 11 hours in a Soviet-era Trabant! I took him to the garage and he was so happy, his son loved it too. He's a very easy guy to talk to, I'm looking forward to driving with him.”