Happy Birthday, David…
On this day, 46 years ago, a very significant person – not just for the Czech Republic, but for the whole Motorsport world – has been born at Roudnice nad Labem. This young gun, who was very talented on water, was discovered by Martin Koloc in 1997 in a simulator. And since then, he has proven as a very unique universal.
First, he went on to become a truck racing driver, which saw him winning two European championship titles in 2008 and 2009, followed by several world speed records in a racing truck. “David had to wait 11 years for his championship title. And, after the 1997 season, we put him into a role of a testing driver, and he did not race until 2002 when he was helping Gerd Köerber to win the first title for Buggyra,” remembers Martin Koloc. “The following year, he had won at Nürburgring, after which we moved to a class that was being dominated by MAN. Yet, I was sure that he’s going to win the title. With all due respect to champions like Köerber, Faure or Bösiger, he was not just a data gatherer and a fast driver, but he also had ideas. And he didn’t mind that most of them never came to fruition. He understood that every idea had some significance. That’s why, after the 2009 season, when Mario Kress left as a constructor, we knew that we have a replacement. We bet on David’s patience and his ability not to give up if he faces setbacks at the beginning.”
And the choice proved to be right. In 2017, Adam Lacko and Buggyra won the European championship and since 2015, he has always been in TOP 3. And at the time, when Adam took his championship title, David was already focusing also on developing the next Tatra special for Dakar. “For some time, we were considering whether he should try Dakar as a driver. But he wouldn’t probably be fit enough for it, in medical terms, and I didn’t see that motivation. However, Tatra trucks had won a few stages in South America, and they returned to the lead for a few days. So, when we decided to enter the T3 category and we faced a challenge to build a brand-new Can-Am in just a few months, we knew that the duo Vršecký-Macháček was the best and actually the only one, we want,” remembers Martin the second half of 2020.
After the first tests at Dakar went quite well, it was time to build a full Buggyra Can-Am DV21 special. “David and Josef had a good relationship despite a certain age difference. And when the 5-time Dakar champion said that he’s working with a genius constructor, it was done. In January, we finally won, and we brought a Bedouin trophy back to the Czech Republic. Whether you like it or not, I don’t know anybody else who would show such great skill to prove themselves in several Motorsport categories like David,” says Martin Koloc, who is now in Saudi Arabia for Rally Hail, where Koloc sisters, Josef Macháček and Téo Calvet are preparing ahead of Dakar 2022. And of course, the celebrant is there as well.
“We’ll probably just wish him a happy birthday, but we’re hoping in much bigger celebrations after the Dakar.”
