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Issue #12:January 14, 2022
Stage 10 was held on Wednesday January 12. The timed section took place on the way from Wadi Ad-Dawasir in the south of Saudi Arabia to the final bivouac in Bisha on intermountain terrain over a distance of 375 km.
The two Toyota Land Cruiser 200 cars competing in the production car category finished the SS (competition stage) with the following rankings: Akira Miura and Laurent Lichtleuchter in car #242 in 47th place overall and 1st in the production car category; and Ronald Basso and Jean-Michel Polato in car #245 in 49th overall and 2nd in the category.
As of today, these results bring the overall cumulative rankings for cars #242 and #245 to 40th and 43rd, respectively. They have also continued to firmly hold on to their one-two lead in the production car category.
A 223 km liaison took them south from Wadi Ad-Dawasir to Najran where the intermountain SS started. They made their way at altitudes of 1,000-1,500 meters as they wove through the mountains heading west. Most of the terrain consisted of soft sand and there weren’t many sand dunes. After the midpoint, hard soil, wadi (dried up riverbeds) and rocks also made an appearance.
For car #242, hard terrain was in mind when they decided on their tire pressure for the start of the stage. They carefully cleared the soft sand section at the beginning of the stage, and in the second half they managed to get through the tracks that were deepened by cars up ahead, without getting stuck. There were no punctures even in areas with many rocks, and without needing to stop for tire pressure adjustments, they made it to the finish without getting stuck and without any punctures.
Car #245 who started the stage two minutes after car #242 also had a smooth run. In narrow sections there were times when they didn’t have room to overtake the trucks up ahead, and for tens of kilometers had to put up with driving through clouds of dust. Regardless, they were able to finish the SS without getting stuck or suffering any punctures.
Tomorrow on January 13, a 346 km loop course starting from Bisha will be held. It will be the final long stage for the rally. According to rumors it’s going to be a difficult stage, so the mechanics at the bivouac in Bisha paid extra special attention to their inspection and maintenance work.
Miura (driver): There were almost no dunes on this stage, but the sand was soft, so we had to drive carefully. The intermountain section along the way was beautiful – it looked like the base of the Andes in Argentina. We were able to drive at a good pace without changing our tire pressure on sand and gravel, and we got some great feedback for the next stages.
Basso (driver): We also kept the same tire pressure we started with and made it to the finish without getting stuck and with no punctures. During the timed sections we want to avoid getting out of the car as much as possible, so it felt good to reach the finish like this.