Dakar Rally 2026 got underway in Yanbu with Saturday’s Prologue. Buggyra ZM Racing fielded two Revo Red-Lined T1+ cars in the Ultimate category, and both crews have now completed their first competitive kilometres. Aliyyah Koloc and co-driver Marcin Pasek finished 31st in the Ultimate classification and 24th in the W2RC classification. Martin Koloc and co-driver Mirco Brun placed 60th in Ultimate and 30th in W2RC. In the additional Masters classification for drivers aged 50 and over, Martin Koloc currently sits 7th.
“The Prologue was pretty good. It was 22 kilometres and it was very, very fast. There were also technical sections on rocks. In those I was more careful – puncturing a tyre and having to change it would cost a lot of time. I think we still had good speed,” said Aliyyah Koloc. Her co-driver Marcin Pasek added that the main goal was to avoid mistakes right from the start: “The Prologue went well for us. We didn’t make any stupid mistakes, and that’s the key. On the stage we already saw the first car on its roof and another one that got stuck in the rocks. It wasn’t easy to get around the second one, so we lost a few seconds there, but that’s not important now. We’re happy to be here – and the real Dakar starts tomorrow.”
Martin Koloc was clear about what held him back in the Prologue: “From the start I couldn’t switch off the speed limiter, so I was capped at 116 kilometres per hour. It was honestly torture – on the long straights where you’re doing 160–170, I was 50 slower.” At the same time, he stressed the team remains calm: “Tomorrow we’ll be starting somewhere from the back and we’ll have to fight our way into a good position for the next stage. I don’t see it as any drama – it just wasn’t pleasant. Otherwise the car works well and the navigation was great. We still have another two weeks ahead of us.”
On Sunday, Dakar continues with Stage 1 from Yanbu to Yanbu. The crews will face a 305-kilometre Special Stage and 213 kilometres of liaison sections (518 km in total).
Source: Buggyra Racing
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