The KH-7 ECOVERGY Team has made a good start to the second and decisive week of the Dakar Rally 2025. The team formed by Jordi Juvanteny, José Luis Criado and Xavi Ribas is the solo leader for another day in the Mission 1000 category. Since the start of the race, nine days ago, the MAN 6x6 truck powered by a mixed Hydrogen / HVO system has proved to be the fastest and most regular among the alternative energy trucks. As a result, the KH-7 truck leads the overall Mission 1000 with 140 points, 10 more than the second-placed truck.
The day took the caravan from Ha'il to Al Duwadimi and was a long one, with 659 kilometers, including a special stage of 95 kilometers timed. Rider Jordi Juvanteny explains: “A long day, with a pretty tough special stage, in which we had to cross several sandy oueds [dry rivers]. We had a good stage and the truck behaved very well”.
For co-driver José Luis Criado, the navigation was “quite complicated”, but, once again, they solved it with solvency: “Jordi drove great, as always, and Xavi and I have tried not to lose the good track and help him as much as we could”.
In fact, the KH-7 ECOVERGY Team was one of the three teams that completed the special in Sport mode. Recall that Mission 1000 participants have an allotted time to complete the special (today it was 1 hour and 54 minutes): if they equal it, they add 5 extra bonus points (Drive mode); if they reduce it by 10%, they add 10 (Sport mode), and if they are slower, they add none (Eco mode). The Spanish team has achieved this performance for the third time on this Dakar, the second in a row, and is the only one to have always scored extra bonus points, i.e. they have always matched the reference time, at least.
At the end of the special stage, there was a three-way tie at the top. However, this Saturday was the day that the Dakar organizers had chosen to distribute the Fan Boost points, awarded by the fans in a vote on the Dakar's social networks: 10, 5 and 2 points for the three teams with the most votes. The KH-7 ECOVERGY Team was second in this vote, so it was also second overall for the day and remains firmly in the lead of the Mission 1000.
During yesterday's welcome rest day on Friday, the team took the opportunity to thoroughly overhaul the truck's mechanics. “We simply carried out the usual maintenance on a rest day: retightening the leaf springs, overhauling the shock absorbers and all the bolts, lifting the cab and checking the engine mounts... The truck is very good, very complete, and as good as new to face the second week,” confirms Juvanteny.
As for the pioneering hybrid Hydrogen / HVO power system and all its electronics, it is proving to be reliable to the satisfaction of Xavi Ribas, director of the firm in charge of its development, EVARM. Ribas is also the third crew member in the cockpit, alongside veterans Juvanteny (in his 33rd Dakar) and Criado, who, with 34, is the active competitor with the most editions behind him.
This Sunday, the seventh stage (the ninth day of the race for the Mission 1000 category) consists of a loop around Al Duwadimi, with a 102-kilometer special stage.
Automatic translation of the Spanish version
Source: Great start for the KH-7 ECOVERGY Team after the rest day
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