“Everybody wants to beat us”
Crew facts
MM
- Martin Macik has won the last two editions of the Dakar in the trucks. At just 36, the Czech entrepreneur is gearing up for already his 14th appearance at the world's biggest rally, where he will be flanked by usual wingmen Frantisek Tomasek (his navigator since 2016) and David Svanda (his mechanic since 2020). For Dakar 2026 they have a new version of their MMT Dakar Evo 4 truck, nicknamed 'Joseph'.
- Martin followed in the footsteps of his father Martin Macik Senior, who first did the Dakar in 2003 and came as high as fourth in 2010. Together they founded the MM Technology team and began building their own trucks at a workshop in Sedlcany.
- Martin made his Dakar debut in 2013 as a navigator for Vlastimil Vildman, then switched to the driver's seat from 2015 onwards. In the era of Kamaz domination, his best result was fourth in 2021. In the absence of the Russians, he has come second, first and first overall, winning a total of 13 stages.
- In 2024, he become the first driver from the truck-mad Czech Republic to win the class since legendary six-time champion Karel Loprais in 2001.
- As well as conquering the Dakar in 2025, Martin and his crew also won Baja Aragon and the Rallye du Maroc, just as they did in 2024.
- MM Technology have prepared and will service at least eight trucks at Dakar 2026. Six of them will be EVO4s, driven by Mitchel van den Brink, Martin van den Brink, Ben de Groot, William de Groot, Dariusz Lysek and Martin himself.
- Martin's business portfolio also includes the MM Production Agency, which offers media, marketing and photography services.
FT
- Frantisek 'Frank' Tomasek has only ever raced with Martin Macik. They have known each other for a long time, because Martin's father built his first race truck in Frantisek's town.
- Frank and Martin used to ride offroad bikes together, then joked about racing together in a truck before making it a reality from 2016 onwards.
- The 43-year-old has previously said that he and Martin have "the same values and the same sense of humour" and that they can rely on each other. "I'm always there for him if he needs good advice, inside or outside the truck."
- He added that mechanic David Svanda has "slotted in just perfectly" since Dakar 2020. The trio are preparing for their seventh Dakar together.
DS
- David Svanda first got interested in motorsport at around the age of 16, when he used to volunteer as a track commissaire at local rallies.
- A trained electrical engineer, he began working at MM Technology in 2018. At Dakar 2019 he worked as a mechanic-electrician, before stepping up to race mechanic and head of electrical installation. He is now responsible for the development and production of all electrical components at MM Technology.
- David knows the importance of teamwork in a Dakar truck crew. "There are three of us and everyone is very important," he observed. "Without each other we cannot achieve the maximum result."
Ambition
MM: "Last year's win was tougher than the first one. From the outside it may have seemed easy, because we were leading from the 48H Chrono stage onwards. But that's when the mental games start. You're always thinking about what you need to do and how to avoid mistakes, you stress about what will get damaged or fall apart. It's not easy to change that mindset and focus on the race, especially when the navigation is also very tough. Mentally, it was a harder win than the first one. But physically and technically the first one was bigger, for sure, because we'd been chasing it for so many years. It was a huge relief afterwards.
In the trucks, there are certainly a few crews chasing top spot. The fight for the podium will be hard. And of course, when you've been first for two years in a row, you have a target on your back. Before, everybody wanted to beat Kamaz. Now everybody wants to beat us. So, I know it will be a much tougher fight, but that's a good thing. You can see how the vehicles in this class are developing. And we're building our competition, providing trucks for our rivals. Mitchel van den Brink has exactly the same truck as me, the Evo 4. It's kind of nice to see the comparison, because he's faster in some places and I'm faster in others. The driving style also makes a difference, although sometimes we only finish a few seconds apart after 400 kilometres, which is kind of incredible.
Our ambitions for Dakar 2026… what do you think? (laughs) To win. There's nothing else you can say, although I don't actually like to say it. The Dakar is so long, and things can change so quickly. One problem in the dunes and you can lose two or three hours. So, we will do our best."
F.T.: "We did our best to win the Dakar again in 2025. We worked all year long to get up to the same level. And now people are expecting us to do the treble! We will certainly strive for it. We know that one of our big strengths is the long and tough stages, like the 48H Chrono or the marathon stages, in big dunes or the Empty Quarter. We're not going there in 2026, so we have to adapt to that new reality. We always gain a lot in those super heavy stages, but now we'll need to adjust our style a little bit to be much faster in the technical stages. We're going to fight, as always."
D.S.: "We have a completely new truck but it's still an Evo 4. The concept is proven, so there was no need to change anything major. The truck is new but it's pretty much the same as last year, we've only tweaked some small details. We know the durability of the components and how long they will last, so we change things when we need to. We're just building on our experience. The key is not only to have the most advanced technology, but to have a vehicle which works the best as a complete package. That's important when you look at the details, all the small components. The service behind it is also very, very important."
