The Brazilian was just 18 seconds behind the winner in the 10th stage. Two days to go
Brazilian Lucas Moraes once again stood out in the 47th edition of the Dakar Rally, which is being held in Saudi Arabia. On Wednesday (15), even after 115km through the dunes of the Empty Quarter desert, the Brazilian driver came within just 18 seconds of the winners, Spaniards Nani Roma/Alex Haro, taking second place.
Partnered by Spanish navigator Armand Monleón, Moraes, who competes in the main Ultimate category, won the seventh stage of the race last Sunday, but before that, in the sixth stage, he had mechanical problems that left him stranded for hours. As a result, he is only 16th in the overall standings so far. After starting on January 4, the lead of the Dakar is held by South Africans Henk Lategan/Brett Cummings.
Nani Roma, who fell out of contention for victory in the Dakar 2025 overall standings on the second stage and, on the fifth stage, crashed head-on with a competitor, won his first special victory since 2015, when he took his 30th first place. At the time, the driver was competing for Mini and the Dakar was being held in South America (Argentina, Bolivia and Chile). The Spanish duo's achievement on Wednesday was also the first victory for the Ford Raptor model in the Dakar 2025.
“By 18 seconds...” - Lucas Moraes and Monleón took second place in the race at kilometer 95 of the 115 contested today. “We only lost first place by 18 seconds, it almost gave us another victory,” celebrated the Brazilian. “Tomorrow we're going to open the special, which means we'll have the disadvantage of not having markings on the trail to help us identify which route to take, because we'll only be guided by the navigation sheet. This makes it very difficult to try to win again, but we'll do our best,” he said.
Two more cars have Brazilians in the Ultimate category. Marcelo Gastaldi, navigated by Frenchman Adrien Metge, came 19th on Wednesday and is in the same position in the overall standings. The duo of Marcos Moraes and Maykel Justo came in 41st place and are 23rd overall in the race. In the Challenger category, for lightweight racing prototypes, Brazilian navigator Cadu Sachs and Portuguese driver Gonçalo Guerreiro finished the day in third place and remain in second place in the overall standings, behind Argentinian duo Nicolas Cavigliasso and Valentina Pertegarini, who have a 26-minute lead.
Tomorrow's 11th and penultimate stage will take place over 307 timed kilometers in the Empty Quarter desert, in a territory made up of “irqs”, an Arabic word that identifies an extensive region of sand and dunes. The stretch is dotted with dangerous drops on the descents of dunes over 200 meters high. But it is seen as an opportunity for experts in piloting and navigation in this type of region. There is no internet available for most of the stretch - at the campsite, for example, the teams go out “hunting” for a signal, moving around the desert until they find a point where they can get a connection, which is always very precarious.
Automatic translation of the Portuguese version
Source: BestPR
Photo: DPPI/Red Bull Content Pool
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