Today’s tenth stage was merely a prelude to the penultimate special stage of Dakar 2025, which will take participants 275 kilometers through the “Empty Quarter” tomorrow. Even the 120 kilometers of today’s stage shook up the field significantly. Many side-by-side crews in the Challenger and SSV categories managed to climb into the top 20, pushing out the Ultimate vehicles. Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov finished 16th in the MINI JCW Rally 3.0i. The father-daughter duo Lionel and Lucie Baud ended the day in 26th place in the MINI JCW Rally 3.0d.
João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro, who started in ninth place overall in the MINI JCW Rally 3.0d, finished 45th today. They repeated their strategy from yesterday, aiming for a starting position further back in the field. Vladas Jurkevicius and Aisvydas Paliukenas crossed the finish line in 51st place in the MINI JCW Rally 3.0i. Guillaume de Mévius and Mathieu Baumel lost significant time at the beginning of the stage due to a repair stop, finishing in 123rd place.
Challenger Category:
Annett Quandt and Annie Seel finished 19th in the Challenger category in the X-raid Fenic. In the overall standings, they hold 14th place. Their teammates Maria Gameiro and José Marques finished in 39th position. For Gameiro, this is her first Dakar participation, and today marked her debut in the “Empty Quarter.” The two Portuguese drivers are currently 26th in the Challenger overall standings.
What’s next:
Dunes! Participants will face nothing but sand and dunes tomorrow. The penultimate stage offers a chance for major changes in the overall rankings.
Quotes from the team
Konstantin Zhiltsov (#217 MINI JCW Rally 3.0i): “We’ve arrived in the ‘Empty Quarter.’ Everyone was looking forward to it, and today we got our first taste of the dunes. It wasn’t easy. We encountered all kinds of dunes, and it was really tough. For us navigators, it wasn’t as interesting as yesterday—it was more challenging then. Today, we mostly just had to follow the compass direction.”
João Ferreira (#240 MINI JCW Rally 3.0d): “This was our first 100% dune stage. We were very, very cautious. Again, we wanted to avoid starting too far ahead tomorrow. The result itself might not look great, but I think the strategy was the right one.”
Result stage 10
1. N. Roma / A. Haro – Ford – 2h 06m 34s
2. L. Moraes / A. Monleon – Toyota – 2h 06m 52s
3. D. Akeel / S. Duple – Taurus – 2h 08m 14s
4. B. Baragwanath / L. Cremer – Century – 2h 08m 55s
5. F. Lopez Contardo / J. Latracj – Can-Am – 2h 10m 45s
…
16. D. Krotov / K. Zhiltsov – MINI JCW Rally 3.0i – 2h 13m 10s
…
26. L. Baud / L. Baud – MINI JCW Rally 3.0d – 2h 16m 00s
…
45. J. Ferreira / F. Palmeiro – MINI JCW Rally 3.0d – 2h 20m 36s
…
51. V. Jurkevicius / A. Paliukenas – MINI JCW Rally 3.0i – 2h 24m 37s
…
74. A. Quandt / A. Seel – X-raid Fenic – 2h 35m 09s
…
119. M. Gameiro / J. Marques – X-raid Fenic – 2h 54m 43s
…
123. G. de Mévius / M. Baumel – MINI JCW Rally 3.0i – 3h 06m 24s
Overall standings
1. H. Lategan / B. Cummings – Toyota – 47h 29m 57s
2. Y. Al-Rajhi / T. Gottschalk – Toyota – 47h 32m 24s
3. M. Ekström / E. Bergkvist – Ford – 47h 56m 43s
4. N. Al-Attiyah / E. Boulanger – Dacia – 48h 00m 18s
5. M. Guthrie / K. Walch – Ford – 48h 24m 02s
…
9. J. Ferreira / F. Palmeiro – MINI JCW Rally 3.0d – 49h 38m 32s
…
21. L. Baud / L. Baud – MINI JCW Rally 3.0d – 53h 34m 31s
…
28. G. de Mévius / M. Baumel – MINI JCW Rally 3.0i – 55h 17m 49s
…
70. A. Quandt / A. Seel – X-raid Fenic – 66h 34m 13s
…
101. D. Krotov / K. Zhiltsov – MINI JCW Rally 3.0i – 95h 35m 55s
…
111. M. Gameiro / J. Marques – X-raid Fenic – 116h 14m 42s
…
134. V. Jurkevicius / A. Paliukenas – MINI JCW Rally 3.0i – 173h 39m 18s