Viktor Chytka will swap his navigator’s seat for the saddle of a Suzuki LT-R450 when he enters this weekend’s Riverside Baja, racing in the Quad category for Garilla Racing.
Chytka last rode a Quad in 2018, primarily competing and winning in the FIA Central European Zone (CEZ) Cross-Country Rally Championships as well as domestic series across the region in Hungary, Slovakia, and his native Czech Republic. He won the 2004 Czech national title followed by the Slovakian championship in 2007.
In tandem with this, he has also doubled as a navigator at the Dakar Rally since 2009. After originally working alongside fellow Czech Jiří Janeček in 2009 and 2010, he linked up with Marek Spáčil’s truck for 2013. Chytka then put his riding career on hold to call the shots for WRC veteran Martin Prokop in 2019, and he has been by Prokop’s side in the Ford Raptor RS since.
Prokop and Chytka finished sixth in the 2023 edition, then improved to a career-best fifth at the latest Dakar in January. Their most recent race together, the World Rally-Raid Championship’s Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in March, was cut short by an accident in Stage #3. With Prokop focusing on rallying for now, Chytka is free to do what he wants.
“Cross-country racing has been my whole life, and during that time, I have occupied all possible positions in all possible categories. Therefore, I am returning to the quad after six years,” said Chytka. Besides racing, he has also dabbled as a cross-country rally photographer like his brother Marian. “During this time, I was committed to Martin Prokop’s MP Sports, and it was essentially out of the question for me to risk injury and then not be able to navigate in the car. At the moment, Martin and I have not agreed on further cooperation, so I’m going to have fun. I know the Hungarian terrain very well from the past. I have participated in the Riverside race several times before, and it is my favourite despite suffering a broken collarbone here in the past after an accident, but that is part of racing.
“I hope and believe that the weather will be nice, as it is important for the quad. I don’t like rain and mud.”
He is the only Quad rider entered at Riverside as part of the CEZ Cross-Country Rally Championship, though there are eight competing for Hungarian Cross-Country Rally Championship points. The Riverside Baja, scheduled for 9–11 May, is the second round on the latter’s 2024 calendar.
