Martin Macík Jr. will try to defend his Dakar Rally victory with a new IVECO from his MM Technology team dubbed the EVO 4, which was revealed on Monday. Mitchel van den Brink and a third driver yet to be revealed will also race the truck.
The EVO 4 replaces the EVO 3 that won the latest Dakar in the Truck category with Macík. The winning truck, nicknamed Cenda, was sold to Firemen Dakarteam in June. Macík has another truck dubbed Frank, with which he won the Baja España Aragón in June and will keep in reserve for other events.
“The main focus in the development of the EVO 4 was to increase the reliability and durability of the individual parts, which is very important in a Dakar-type race,” Macík’s father Martin Sr., the team head of development, explained. “You don’t have round-the-clock maintenance, and it is desirable that the parts can withstand as much stress as possible for as long as possible, both mechanically and in terms of temperature fluctuations.
“Another important aspect for us was the comfort of the crew and overall stability. Our platform is rather low, and we use strong springs, which, while providing extreme stability for the entire truck, limit the comfort level in the cabin. Comfort is something you will appreciate over hundreds of kilometres of rough terrain, because if you physically overload the crew immediately after the first stage, the whole race becomes even more challenging.”
The truck is 6,950 millimetres long by 2,550 mm wide and 3,300 mm tall while weighing in at roughly 8,760 kilograms when empty. The chassis was designed in-house using 3D construction and built to be a “lightweight yet incredibly strong frame”.
FPT Industrial’s Cursor 13 engine, which is intended for commercial heavy-duty trucks, sits at the heart of the truck. It is a thirteen-litre, six-cylinder motor with 12,966cc of engine displacement and can produce over 1,050 horsepower and 5,000 Nm of torque. The engine accommodates both common rail and pump diesel fuel injection systems, the former for more fuel efficiency while the latter is to increase power. MM first used the Cursor 13 with Cenda.
While the inner workings are different, the EVO 4’s exterior is generally the same as its predecessor save for minute changes like cabin lighting and sidewall mounting.
As its name suggests, the EVO 4 is the fourth generation of trucks from MM Technology. The EVO series was first built as part of the LIAZ family in 2007; Frank, made in 2016, is a LIAZ EVO 4. The team switched to IVECO in 2019 and restarted the numbering pattern with the IVECO EVO 1. The EVO 2 came about in 2021 followed by Cenda two years later.
Van den Brink and his family’s Eurol Rally Sport partnered with MM in early September, switching over from Team de Rooy’s IVECOs. He and his father Martin van den Brink respectively finished third and nineteenth in class at the 2024 Dakar.
The 2025 Dakar Rally is scheduled for 3–17 January.
