Old Friends Rally Team duo lead the SSV Rally Raid World Championship from the start
Alexandre Pinto and Bernardo Oliveira completed the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally 2025 today, adding two more points to the SSV Rally Raid World Championship, out of a total of 35 so far, and remain well in the lead of the respective Championship and of the FIA Rookie Challenge classification, aimed at first-time drivers in the world's premier TT event.
The young duo signed up by the Old Friends Rally Team, who since the start of the second part of this edition of the Dakar Rally have opted for a steady but prudent pace so as not to compromise the mechanics of their Can-Am and allow them to reach the end of this odyssey, spent 4h04m07s on the special timed stage of the day that took the group from Riyadh to Haradh, thus maintaining fourth place in the SSV Ranking.
“Today was a fast stage. Connecting to the Empty Quater. Tomorrow will see the start of the sand and dune stages. The special went perfectly until the refueling. Then there were a few 'lost ends', the navigation was very complicated. There were a lot of lost cars on the track, which made it difficult to find the right path. That's why we missed a waypoint, which penalized us by 15 minutes. We managed to keep all the positions we had taken overall. There are still three more days of the Dakar. Tomorrow is a new day and a lot can still happen. Bernardo and I are well and focused, the car is fine, the team has done a good job. We're prepared for the dunes. Let's see how it goes,” said Alexandre Pinto.
Tomorrow sees the tenth stage of the Dakar Rally 2025, which will link Harad to Shubaytah. The journey will cover a total of 635 km, only 115 of which will be timed. The day will start at dawn with a long link that will take the competitors to the dunes of the Empty Quarter. The special will be as tricky as it is short, with surprises lurking behind every dune. You have to proceed with caution. This is just the beginning of the adventure in the realm of the dunes.
Automatic translation of the Portuguese version
Source: Alexandre Pinto / A2 Comunicação
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