FORD

 Martin Prokop has long been one of the best privateer drivers on the Dakar. Hailing from the motorsport-mad Czech Republic, the 41-year-old began his racing career in traditional rally, starring on the national scene before clinching the Junior WRC title in 2009. Since making his debut in Monte Carlo in 2005 he has participated in over 130 WRC events, and even in 2023 he did Mexico, Italy, Kenya and Greece in the Rally2 class. Martin was eventually drawn to offroad racing and spent years building up to his maiden Dakar in 2016, where he took a creditable 14th place. He has reached the finish line in each of his eight appearances, setting a Czech record with a superb sixth place in 2019 and equaling that result a year ago. For a small private structure like the Orlen Benzina team, it was a remarkable effort to be fighting with the big guns from factory teams such as Toyota Gazoo Racing, Bahrain Raid Xtreme and Overdrive Racing. When he first began preparing a car for the Dakar, Martin joked that it was "really ugly" and needed a nickname to increase its charms. Someone suggested 'Shrek' and the sobriquet has stuck, although the 2024 incarnation of the car -a Ford Raptor RS Cross Country- is a far cry from the original. Now boasting T1+ specs, a V6 engine and a new chassis, the latest version of Shrek is a formidable beast, as Martin demonstrated with second place at this year's Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and sixth place at the Rallye du Maroc. Ahead of Dakar 2024 the team is doing some final testing in Dubai, where they have a workshop and a test car, before heading to Saudi Arabia. For the fifth straight year Martin will be joined by talented co-driver Viktor Chytka, whose brother Marian is one of rally-raid's top photographers. As ever, Martin and Viktor are aiming high and would love to bring Shrek home in the top five of the highly competitive Ultimate class.