419 PRICE Sara (usa), GRAY Jérémy (usa), South Racing Can-Am, BRP Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo, FIA SSV, FIA W2RC, action during the Stage 9 of the Dakar 2024 on January 16, 2024 between Hail and Al Ula, Saudi Arabia

The special of Stage 10 is 371 km long, with obstacles along the way that will hinder the competitors’ race after the tiniest of mistakes. This could mean fortune for some, and complete disaster for others. Patience and riding/driving skills will be the key today.

SSVs

At the first time check, Yasir Seaidan set the pace, with Sara Price right behind him, just 13 seconds back. The overall leader Xavier de Soultrait was almost 2 minutes off the pace.

After 180 km, Seidan was still keeping his lead, with Varela and de Sadeleer not too far behind (59″ and 1′ 06″). Sara Price dropped back to fourth, and de Soultrait was only seventh.

Seidan seemed to have secured the win for Stage 10, but right at the end, he lost a lot of time. That allowed Sara Price to win the stage, just 2 seconds ahead of de Sadeleer and 4 minutes in front of Varela.

In the general standings, Sara also recovered time against her main rival de Soultrait, who is still leading by 20′ 26″. De Sadeleer is third, 23′ 22″ behind.

Trucks

Gert Huzink was keen to continue the great job done yesterday, and he was leading the stage after 138 km. He was 1′ 50″ ahead of Martin Macík. The latter’s direct rival Loprais was losing 12′ 30″ to the leader.

It was another dominant stage for Huzink, who won ahead of Macík. The latter wasn’t too far off, only 1′ 08″ behind. It is not a big deal for him, though, as his gap in the general standings is now too big. Becx finished the stage in third, 9 minutes behind.

In the general standings, Macík still holds the lead, more than 2 hours ahead of Loprais.