Mário Franco and Daniel Jordão successfully overcame a very demanding stage
The Franco Sport team successfully overcame another very demanding stage, the penultimate of this Dakar Rally 2024. Mário Franco and Daniel Jordão completed the day with the 6th best time among the Challenger Ranking competitors entered in the World Championship.
Franco Sport managed to solve the problems that prevented the Yamaha YXZ 1000R Turbo T3 from starting the 10th stage and, despite having a puncture and having covered almost a third of the 420 km between Alula and Yanbu at night, they reached the Top 15 of the Challenger Ranking.
"Another stage finished, another stage with a lot of struggle. As a result of yesterday's incidents, we started the stage again from the last places. We found the track already very broken, very destroyed, with lots of trucks and cars to overtake. The track was very dangerous, with lots of rocks. The main concern was not to puncture, which was very easy given the characteristics of the route and even more so with so many overtakes we had to make, but we managed to get to the first neutralization at km 180 without any punctures. Then Mário started to set a slightly stronger pace, the track was also more open... and we had a puncture. We slowed down again because we only had one spare wheel and we didn't want to risk another puncture. We refueled for the second time at km 330 and, in the meantime, it was getting dark and we finished the stage with very limited visibility. The last 170 km were done at night and navigation became very complicated. We wanted to get to the end of the stage as quickly as possible and we pushed the pace a little. We managed to do it successfully and it was another day of learning and development and we're ready to face the last stage tomorrow. The last few kilometers of this Dakar will be by the Red Sea and I imagine they'll be very beautiful and we'll take the car to the podium at the end. The team has been working hard to achieve this goal," says Daniel Jordão, Mário Franco's navigator.
Tomorrow sees the 12th and final stage of the 46th edition of the Dakar Rally. The final stage could be decisive. The 175 timed kilometres starting and finishing in Yanbu won't be comfortable for those leading the race, since this year the organization has decided to make navigation even more difficult.
Automatic translation of the Portuguese version available on www.todoterreno.pt
Source: Franco Sport's official press release
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