On the emergency switchbox of the DAF Bull is a sticker paying tribute to Major Maciej Krakowian, a friend of Kamena Rally Team who was killed when his F-16 crashed last August.

“Today you are riding with us, in our hearts,” the team stated.

Krakowian was the leader of the F-16 Tiger Demo Team, the award-winning aerobatics squad of the Polish Air Force. Callsign “Slab”, he was a close colleague of Tomasz Białkowski and his crew, often flying his F-16 Fighting Falcon for Kamena’s promo shoots. Kamena has also brought their Polaris RZR out to air shows to accompany Krakowian and the Tigers.

Just weeks before his fatal accident, Krakowian and his F-16 were part of Kamena’s reveal video to announce they would race the legendary DAF Bull at the Dakar Classic. The crash occurred just five days after the official program unveiling.

The major had been practicing for the Radom Air Show when his jet lost altitude and he couldn’t eject in time. He was posthumously promoted to lieutenant colonel in September.

Białkowski installed a tribute decal on the door of the Bull for the Baja Poland a week after the accident. That sticker was eventually replaced with the truck’s Dakar Classic number, so they stuck a new patch inside the cockpit.

Living up to its Paris–Dakar Rally legacy, the Bull has impressed with Białkowski behind the wheel. It won the Classic class outright for Stage 3, becoming the first truck to win a Dakar leg overall of any kind, and has run top ten overall.

Featured image credit: Rodrigo Barreto / FOTOP / ASO