Dakar Rally 2026 got underway in Yanbu with Saturday’s Prologue. Buggyra ZM Racing fielded two three-man crews in the Truck category and the opening day delivered two very different results. Martin Soltys, together with Vlastimil Miksch and Tomas Sikola, finished 4th and was the fastest Czech competitor in the Prologue. Karel Posledni, with Petr Schweiner and Filip Skrobanek, dropped from a top-ten position to 22nd after receiving a three-and-a-half-minute penalty due to issues with the speed limiter.
“I’m glad it finally started. The Prologue went well for us – fourth place is good result. I did my best to drive smart, so we have a good starting position for tomorrow,” said Martin Soltys. He added about the truck: “The truck ran without any major issues, we only lost a mirror.”
Co-driver Vlastimil Miksch praised a clean run without mistakes: “I was nervous right up to the last moment, but once you’re on the start line, it drops away. The important thing is that we didn’t make any mistakes and we didn’t get lost.” Mechanic Tomas Sikola added a few details from inside the cab: “It was a fast section with technical parts as well, so it was quite demanding for the start. Passing under a tree we clipped a branch and tore something off the roof – we only found out at the finish what it was. It was the protective frame for the front windscreen. We also knocked off a mirror somewhere. Those are our two losses today. We’ll fix it and move on.”
For Karel Posledni’s crew, the result was decided by the penalty. “From the start I couldn’t switch off the speed limiter, so we got a 3:30 min penalty. Otherwise we would have been somewhere around ninth or tenth. Now we’re twenty-second, but tomorrow the real Dakar begins,” said Posledni.
Co-driver Petr Schweiner explained that the priority before the start was to stay calm in the cab: “I was nervous, but before the start we sat down in the cab, shook hands and calmed ourselves down. It’s a shame about the technical issue and the unnecessary penalty – it’s a lesson for us and for the team.” Mechanic Filip Skrobanek added that the crew is still settling into some things: “The new co-driver is gradually integrating into the crew. Some things are still falling into place, but I believe it will only get better in the coming days.”
On Sunday, Dakar continues with Stage 1 from Yanbu to Yanbu. The crews will face a 305-kilometre Special Stage and 213 kilometres of liaison sections (518 km in total).
Source: Buggyra Raciong
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