It’s quiet from the marathon bivouac, but luckily the results of Stage 9 are available online. So today we have to rely on scoreboard journalism. For Kuipers-Jongbloed Hybrid, it was another fantastic day. Kay Huzink set the fourth-fastest time with his MKR Renault rally truck, and Gert Huzink posted the fifth. On top of that, defending champion Martin Macík dropped out of the top positions, which moves Kay Huzink up to fourth overall.
The strategy of staying together is working perfectly and is paying off. The fact that these results are starting to feel “normal” is a sign that Kuipers-Jongbloed Hybrid is making a truly serious step forward. The MKR Technology trucks the team is running are now settling in alongside the renowned trucks of MM Technology and Team De Rooy. Gert Huzink, Hugo Kupper, and Mario Kress are performing the support role superbly and will continue to do so to safeguard the success of Kay Huzink, Rob Buursen, and Gait Schoneveld.
MKR Technology
German Mario Kress is not only the mechanic in Gert Huzink’s truck, but also the founder of MKR. The company is based in the Czech Republic and built its reputation in truck racing. After years of dominance with the Renault brand on the European circuits, Kress entered the Dakar Rally as a guest. There he met rally driver Pascal de Baar, who had just dropped out. Together they began thinking about building a winning Dakar truck. That marked the start of an ambitious journey, turning ideas into reality through trial and error and with relatively limited budgets—yet MKR still managed to deliver strong results, not least thanks to the loyal partnership with Gert Huzink. With the current trucks, MKR is showing that it has almost closed the gap to the brands that have dominated Dakar’s truck category for years. That brings a lot of confidence for the future.
Stage 10: Wadi Ad Dawasir (Marathon) – Bisha
Aside from a negligible fifty-kilometre liaison, tomorrow’s program features a 420-kilometre special. Stage 10 is the second part of the marathon stage and will be a true dune day. A lot can happen, because driving dunes is its own world. The fact that both Kuipers-Jongbloed Hybrid trucks will once again run together is a major advantage over rivals, who are still fighting individually for their own classification. In that sense, Kay Huzink has an absolute master helper in his uncle and mentor, Gert.
Source: Kuipers-Jongbloed Hybrid
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