After yesterday’s rest day in Riyadh, the drivers started the ninth stage to Haradh refreshed. The two MINI JCW Rally Plus crews Jakub “Kuba” Przygonski / Armand Monleon and Sebastian Halpern / Bernardo “Ronnie” Graue attacked from the start. After 358 kilometres, both teams secured positions in the top 10: Przygonski finished sixth, Halpern ninth. The Argentinean thus moved up to eleventh place in the overall standings. Sheikh Khalid Al-Qassimi and Ola Floene also did well in the MINI JCW Buggy today, securing twelfth place.
Kuba Przygonski: “The first kilometres in the dunes were not easy. Many of them were steeply sloping on the back side. It was difficult to judge which dunes were ’round’ and which were sloping. In the middle part, the navigation was tricky. Armand did a good job here. The last kilometres were on fast tracks with stones. We are getting to know the MINI better and better.”
Sebastian Halpern: “The dunes on the first 50 kilometres were nice to drive and a lot of fun. The MINI was running great today. After the dunes, it was full throttle on the fast tracks. We managed to finish the stage in the top 10. In the coming days we will give everything to also make the jump into the top 10 of the overall standings.”
The tenth stage takes the competitors into the “Empty Quarter” for the first time in this edition. Dunes and sand are on the agenda. The stage was deliberately kept short at 114 kilometres, especially as 510 km of liaison distance have to be completed
Dakar Rally – result SS9
1. S. Loeb / F. Lurquin – BRX – 3h 05m 14s
2. V. Zala / P. Fiuza – BRX – 3h 08m 21s
3. G. Chicherit / A. Winocq – BRX – 3h 09m 22s
4. M. Ekström / E. Bergkvist – Audi – 3h 12m 35s
5. R. Dumas / M. Delfino – Toyota – 3h 15m 02s
6. J. Przygonski / A. Monleon – MINI JCW Rally Plus – 3h 15m 47s
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9. S. Halpern / B. Graue – MINI JCW Rally Plus – 3h 17m 32s
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12. Sh. K. Al-Qassimi / O. Floene – MINI JCW Buggy – 3h 24m 35s
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22. D. Krotov / K. Zhiltsov – MINI JCW Buggy – 3h 34m 38s
Overall standings SS9
1. N. Al-Attiyah / M. Baumel – Toyota – 34h 19m 20s
2. L. Moraes / T. Gottschalk – Toyota – 35h 41m 17s
3. S. Loeb / F. Lurquin – BRX – 36h 02m 28s
4. H. Lategan / B. Cummings – Toyota – 36h 05m 43s
5. G. de Villiers / D. Murphy – Toyota – 36h 23m 37s
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11. S. Halpern / B. Graue – MINI JCW Rally Plus – 38h 22m 55s
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16. Sh. K. Al-Qassimi / O. Floene – MINI JCW Buggy – 39h 58m 53s
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22. D. Krotov / K. Zhiltsov – MINI JCW Buggy – 40h 39m 31s
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25+. J. Przygonski / A. Monleon – MINI JCW Rally Plus – 41h 34m 54s
