Category: Nezaradené

It is not often that Slovak televisions cover the topic of motorsports. Nevertheless, the Markíza TV channel was occupied today by a pair who will represent Slovakia at the Eco Africa Race 2026 in a few days.

Driver Martin Benko and co-driver Marek Sýkora completed several long-distance competitions together in the 2025 season and did well. Now the Eco Africa Race 2026 awaits them. The course of this competition essentially copies the course of the former Dakar competition. The 17th year of this competition will start on January 25, 2026 in the city of Tangier in Morocco. From this iconic city, the competitors will then set off to conquer the route through Morocco, Mauritania to the mythical lake Lac Rose (Pink Lake) in Senegal, where the competition will finish on February 7, 2026. The entire course of the two-week African competition will be more than six thousand kilometers long.

Slovakia will be represented in the Eco Africa Race 2026 by the crew of the Taurus T3 Maxi vehicle, Martin Benko – Marek Sýkora and Norwit Racing. This pair started their journey “dirtily” today (January 20, 2026) on Markíza television, specifically in the Teleráno program, where they were interviewed by a pair of presenters.

“I am glad that we were able to “start” our competition in such an elegant way. Even though the real start awaits us only on Sunday (January 25, 2026) in Tangier, Morocco. I am pleased that together with Marek we can participate in this competition and represent Slovakia in it. Marek is the world champion in cross country competitions and I am glad that I am starting with him and I fully trust him as a co-driver. We know that we are facing a tough competition, but we are ready to fight it out to the finish line at the literally iconic Pink Lake, where the Dakar Rally used to end in the past,” said Martin Benko.

Co-driver Marek Sýkora will not be staying at home, in Slovakia, for long these days. The reason is that last Saturday he finished the just-concluded Dakar Rally 2026 in Saudi Arabia together with Czech Miroslav Zapletal.

“This year’s Dakar was really tough, but that’s in the past and now we need to fully focus on Africa. Martin and I have already competed in several competitions together, so I know exactly what we are getting into. I am really looking forward to the Eco Africa Race, because I will be returning to my original places where I started in the past as part of the Dakar. It will be tough, but I am looking forward to it,” added Marek Sýkora.

Martin Benko and Marek Sýkora, together with the Norwit Racing Team, will fly to the competition, held perfectly in accordance with the values ​​of the African ecological race, where openness, courage, determination and pushing one’s own boundaries reign, on Thursday (January 22, 2026). We will keep you informed about how they will do during the Eco Africa Race 2026.

The last, fifth stage of the Rallye du Maroc 2025 world championship did not turn out quite as Martin Benko and Marek Sýkora had imagined. They were stopped in it by a ditch.

The replaced engine on the Taurus T3 Max buggy worked perfectly in both the fourth and fifth stages, which was also proven by the crew on the track. However, gradual acceleration today at the one hundred and ninetieth kilometer out of the total two hundred and forty-seven measured kilometers stopped the jump over the ditch. Thanks to it, the buggy received a hit on the front axle and the bent arms turned it into a copy of Charlie Chaplin’s legs. Unfortunately, it was not possible to continue with such a tuning modification and so the Norwit Racing Team ended its participation in the competition. However, the aforementioned conclusion meant that the team did not meet its goal, which was to reach the finish line of the competition.

“I’m very sorry, but it was a ditch that only had one crossing over a concrete bridge. Since there were several vehicles in front of us, which were really dusty and we couldn’t see anything, we missed the bridge by a few meters and this is how it turned out. Fortunately, only the buggy suffered any damage and Marek and I are fine. But I’m glad that we are driving a car and I don’t ride a motorbike anymore, because such a mistake probably wouldn’t have turned out well there. The stage was otherwise very nice, it had everything we wanted, except for that bridge. We didn’t meet our goal, but it doesn’t matter, the important thing is that we reached “almost” the end and, most importantly, we collected an incredible amount of experience, data and deepened our mutual cooperation in the car. Of course, for all this, a big thank you goes to all the partners of the Norwit Racing Team, the dedicated mechanics and ultimately also to our families, who suffer from this “deviation” of ours. “Next time it will definitely be much better,” Martin Benko assessed after the competition.

We will not reveal where and when we will see the Martin Benko – Marek Sýkora crew on the tracks again, but we already know that you will definitely enjoy their continued performance.