Due to heavy rainfall around Al Duwadimi, the bivouac there could not be used. Therefore, the A.S.O. decided yesterday evening at short notice to send all participants directly to Riyadh. The special stage was shortened to 358 kilometres. However, the entire sixth stage was extended to over 900 kilometres.
MINI JCW Rally Plus crew Jakub “Kuba” Przygonski and Armand Monleon made it into the top 10 with ninth place, while their teammates Sebastian Halpern and Bernardo “Ronnie” Graue secured 15th place in the MINI JCW Rally Plus. The two MINI JCW Buggy crews Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi / Ola Floene and Denis Krotov / Konstantin Zhiltsov finished the day in 22nd and 23rd positions.
Together with the drivers, the X-raid MINI JCW Rally Team can continue to develop and improve the setup of the new MINI John Cooper Works Rally Plus from day to day. Both crews made it through the sandy stage today without any problems.
Kuba Przygonski: “Today was not so easy. Again dunes with camel grass and physically demanding at the beginning. But we felt very good in the car. Working together with the team made the MINI easier to drive. We liked the stage a lot.”
Sebastian Halpern: “I really liked today’s stage. The dunes were nice to drive. I’m really happy. The MINI worked great and I didn’t have any punctures either. I really enjoyed it today.”
Due to the problems around the bivouac in Al Duwadimi, the organizer has added an additional marathon stage for tomorrow. The pilots will drive to Al Duwadimi alone and will have to manage without their mechanics there in the evening. The day after tomorrow they will return to Riyadh. A total of 861 kilometres have to be covered tomorrow, 333 of them against the clock. The terrain will be varied: from gravel roads to sandy plateaus to huge dune ranges
Dakar Rally 2023 – result SS6
1. N. Al-Attiyah / M. Baumel – Toyota – 3h 13m 12s
2. S. Loeb / F. Lurquin – BRX – 3h 16m 41s
3. H. Lategan / B. Cummings – Toyota – 3h 22m 04s
4. G. Chicherit / A. Winocq – BRX – 3h 22m 24s
5. V. Zala / P. Fiuza – BRX – 3h 23m 45s
…
9. J. Przygonski / A. Monleon – MINI JCW Rally Plus – 3h 25m 57s
…
15. S. Halpern / B. Graue – MINI JCW Rally Plus – 3h 36m 08s
…
22. Sh. K. Al-Qassimi / O. Floene – MINI JCW Buggy – 3h 43m 56s
23. D. Krotov / K. Zhiltsov – MINI JCW Buggy – 3h 46m 55s
Overall standings after SS6
1. N. Al-Attiyah / M. Baumel – Toyota – 24h 00m 48s
2. H. Lategan / B. Cummings – Toyota – 25h 07m 38s
3. L. Moraes / T. Gottschalk – Toyota – 25h 14m 07s
4. G. de Villiers / D. Murphy – Toyota – 25h 45m 26s
5. M. Ekström / E. Bergkvist – Audi – 25h 47m 43s
…
17. Sh. K. Al-Qassimi / O. Floene – MINI JCW Buggy – 27h 31m 36s
18. S. Halpern / B. Graue – MINI JCW Rally Plus – 27h 46m 43s
…
20. D. Krotov / K. Zhiltsov – MINI JCW Buggy – 27h 55m 05s
…
29+. J. Przygonski / A. Monleon – MINI JCW Rally Plus – 31h 05m 50s