“I'm pretty sure we can finish inside the Top 10”
Crew facts
M.V.
- Michal Valtr will be making his second Dakar appearance in the trucks in 2026, having finished 13th on his debut in 2024. He will be joined by new navigator Lukas Kvasnica and mechanic Radim Kaplanek, who was already part of his crew two years ago.
- The 37-year-old Czech driver -who turns 38 on 9 January- is the son of the hugely experienced Jaroslav Valtr, who has been doing the Dakar since 2012 and came as high as fifth in 2023. Jaroslav founded Valtr Racing and will be joining Michal at Dakar 2026 as part of team management.
- Michal started out racing cars between 2014 and 2017 before getting involved in trucks, winning the Czech Offroad Marathon series in 2016.
- His younger brother Jaroslav Junior has also been bitten by the rally-raid bug, doing four editions of the Dakar as a truck navigator between 2021 and 2024. Jaroslav Jr guided Ales Loprais to second place overall in 2024, when all three Valtrs were competing in different crews.
- In the build-up to his first Dakar, Michal secured victories in a truck at Baja Drawsko (2022) and Baja Poland (2022 & 2023). He is also an accomplished SSV driver and won the Czech Offroad Marathon series again in 2023 in a Polaris buggy.
L.K.
- Lukas Kvasnica will be making his third Dakar outing as a navigator this year, after two editions with the Buggyra ZM Racing team. On his 2024 debut he finished 20th with his friend Daniel Stiblik in a fast assistance truck, before guiding newcomer Karel Posledni to 11th at Dakar 2025.
- The 30-year-old had never done rally-raid navigation until he turned up to his first Dakar and said completing it was a 'dream come true'. He was supposed to return with Daniel in 2025, but some last-minute changes meant he came with Karel instead, finishing just outside the Top 10. "I only met the guys for two hours before Dakar, but it was essential to come back again," he explains. "Racing is the only way to gain experience in rally-raid."
- Lukas linked up with the Valtr Racing team in 2025 and won Baja Poland alongside Jaroslav Sr and Radim in late August, in the same Iveco Torpedo Powerstar they are taking to the Dakar. He and Michal also went to Morocco for some training in the dunes in early December.
Ambition
M.V.: "Dakar 2024 was pretty interesting, my first time competing properly in the trucks. It was different from the cars and buggies I'd raced before. Just being at the Dakar was a childhood dream come true. It was a little bit hard but I enjoyed it a lot, and now I'm looking forward to another one. I'll be coming to Dakar 2026 with the family team. I'll be driving and my dad will act as a kind of supervisor. Officially, he has retired from racing, although I don't believe him so much! He'll be there to tell me what to do and how to do it (laughs). Two years ago, the only stage we didn't finish was the 48h Chrono, because of a small mistake we made. But that's all part of the learning curve. That first time was all about seeing what the Dakar is like and gaining experience. Now I will try to be better. Lukas is coming with me because we wanted to try Dakar together. I hope he won't be too scared by my driving! And Radim is still our number one mechanic. We have the same truck that we bought from Martin Macik in 2019. Same engine, same chassis, same tyres. We still have a manual gearbox, which is a bit of a handicap against the trucks with an automatic gearbox. But for learning what I need to learn now, it's pretty good. I will try to be fast, and I'm pretty sure that with a little luck we can finish inside the Top 10. I have a huge amount of trust in our team and I feel we can do it."
L.K.: "The first time I met Michal was in 2024, when we were both doing our first Dakar. We kept bumping into each other during the stages, often driving together, and we would have a chat at the neutralisation. We got to know each other and stayed in touch after the rally. I was honoured to be asked to join them for Dakar 2026. I've been following Valtr Racing for a long time, Jaroslav has done so many Dakars. It's a very good opportunity and it's an honour to be a part of this project, to help Michal achieve his goals. Of course, I would like to do my best to achieve the best possible result. But the most important thing is to finish safely. The result is like an extra bonus. It's only a second Dakar for Michal and a third for me, so we still have a lot of things to learn. I'm not sure if it's better or worse to know what's coming on the Dakar. For the first one I had no idea, so I was kind of nervous. But then last year I knew exactly how hard it was going to be! I think it's better to know what's ahead because you know how to prepare. You focus on what you really need and where you can progress. It's the hardest race in the world and you can never be 100% prepared. But I believe in myself, I believe in my experience, and together with the guys I think we can have a good Dakar."
