With less than 800 kilometres to go in the Dakar 2024, the crews completed a loop around Al Ula today. On this tenth stage, Krzysztof Holowczyc and Lukasz Kurzeja secured 14th place in the MINI JCW Rally Plus. Vaidotas Zala and Paulo Fiuza were able to start again today after an engine change – but received a 20-hour time penalty for the change. Annett Quandt and Annie Seel finished 23rd in the Challenger classification in the X-raid 1000R Turbo.
Tomorrow they will be travelling to the finish town of Yanbu, where the podium will be celebrated on Friday. The 480-kilometre stage consists mainly of stretches mixed with short sandy and stony passages.
Quotes from the drivers
Vaidotas Zala (#214 MINI JCW Rally Plus):
“Another tough day and we’ve had quite a few of those. We had a problem with the electrics and it took us a while to localise it. That was at the beginning of the stage and almost everyone who had started behind us had overtaken us in the meantime. So we had to work our way back to the front. But that was almost impossible today. There was no wind, but there was a lot of dust in the air.”
Krzysztof Holowczyc (#217 MINI JCW Rally Plus):
“The navigation was tough today and it wasn’t easy to find the way. There were many rocky sections where we caught two flat tyres. That’s why we drove more carefully afterwards. The MINI worked really well. We have a long stage ahead of us tomorrow. Fortunately, we have a pretty good starting position. I’m assuming that we’ll have a better day tomorrow.”
Annett Quandt (#321 X-raid 1000R Turbo):
“The first part of the stage was very, very rocky and extremely dusty. In such cases, the start every 30 seconds is very tough. You just can’t get out of the dust. Unfortunately, a flat tyre cost us some time. Apart from that, we got through well. The second part was great with fantastic scenery. It was really fun. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to enjoy the view
Dakar 2024 – result SS10 (Ultimate-class)
1. G. Chicherit / A. Winocq – Toyota – 3h 19m 27s
2. B. Baragwanath / L. Cremer – Century – 3h 25m 10s
3. B. Vanagas / K. Sikk – Toyota – 3h 25m 31s
4. E. Amos / P. Ceci – Toyota – 3h 25m 36s
5. R. Dumas / M. Delfino – Toyota – 3h 26m 39s
…
14. K. Holowczyc / L. Kurzeja – MINI JCW Rally Plus – 3h 36m 37s
…
52. V. Zala / P. Fiuza – MINI JCW Rally Plus – 24h 51m 47s
Overall standings (Ultimate-class)
1. C. Sainz / L. Cruz – Audi – 41h 35m 12s
2. S. Loeb / F. Lurquin – Prodrive – 41h 48m 34s
3. L. Moraes / A. Monleon – Toyota – 42h 37m 56s
4. G. de Mevius / X. Panseri – Toyota – 43h 02m 21s
5. G. Chicherit / A. Winocq – Toyota – 43h 23m 07s
…
49. K. Holowczyc / L. Kurzeja – MINI JCW Rally Plus – 130h 15m 49s
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54. V. Zala / P. Fiuza – MINI JCW Rally Plus – 151h 39m 23s
Dakar 2024 result SS10 (Challenger-class)
1. M. Gastaldi / C. Sachs – Taurus – 3h 44m 13s
2. N. Cavigliasso / V. Pertegarini – Taurus – 3h 45m 39s
3. D. Zille / S. Cesana – Can-Am – 3h 50m 46s
4. R. Baciuska / O. Vidal – Can-Am – 3h 51m 42s
5. C. Gutierrez / P. Moreno – Taurus – 3h 51m 53s
…
23. A. Quandt / A. Seel – X-raid 1000R Turbo – 4h 34m 24s
Overall standings (Challenger-class)
1. M. Guthrie / K. Walch – Taurus – 46h 01m 50s
2. C. Gutierrez / P. Moreno – Taurus – 46h 29m 53s
3. F. Lopez / J. Latrach – Can-Am – 47h 15m 38s
4. R. Baciuska / O. Vidal – Can-Am – 47h 24m 03s
5. A. Jones / G. Gugelmin – Can-Am – 47h 29m 32s
…
19. A. Quandt / A. Seel – X-raid 1000R Turbo – 67h 36m 27s