Aliyyah Koloc is the best woman of Dakar Rally after a brutal two-day stage

The two-day test of drivers and cars, named Chrono48, was a tough challenge for the Buggyra competitors at the Dakar Rally.

MONACO, FRANCE, January 6, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The exceptional driving of only 20-year-old Aliyyah Koloc made her the top woman in the standings of the elite Ultimate car category, even though she had to deal with a sandstorm in the dunes. Martin Šoltys faced a physically demanding battle with the track, after which the truck pilot's fatigue was evident. He is currently 10th overall. At the time of publishing this report, Karel Poslední was still battling the challenges of the track.

Aliyyah Koloc, a driver for Buggyra ZM Racing, tackled the challenges of Chrono48 with determination. "It was a very challenging two-day stage. Yesterday, we covered 600 kilometres. We stood still for half an hour but managed to reach the makeshift camp, where we worked on the car until late at night. It was very dusty today. There's still a lot of work to be done on the car, but we're at the finish line, and that's the most important thing," said Koloc, currently 26th in the Ultimate category standings.

The desert's biggest challenge was the demanding navigation. "The organisers prepared a lot of big dunes for us. On some, we had to take a second run or even turn around and go another way. We got stuck twice today, but overall, I enjoyed the fast sections. It was definitely a very varied stage," Aliyyah added.

Navigator Sébastien Delaunay confirmed the difficulty of the terrain and navigation. "We encountered about 300 kilometres of dunes, half of which were on fresh, very soft sand. At midday, a sandstorm hit, and we could hardly see anything. The stage started quite fast, but soon we began encountering one broken-down car after another, kilometre after kilometre. They were pushing hard in the extreme conditions, which led to their downfall," explained the French co-driver.

Martin Šoltys, who missed last year's Dakar due to injury, experienced the Chrono48 format for the first time. "Until yesterday, I didn’t even know what a chrono was. Today, I know—it’s a massacre. Yesterday, we rode the first 300 kilometres perfectly fine, but then we got stuck. Unfortunately, it was so bad that we spent almost three-quarters of an hour digging ourselves out. It drained a lot of energy, but we made it to the second bivouac. The wind was blowing terribly there, so it was almost impossible to work on the truck properly," explained the Tatra Buggyra EVO3 driver as he recounted the first part of the challenging stage.

However, the complications didn’t end with an overnight stay in an improvised tent camp. "Today, about 15 to 20 kilometres after the start, one of the injectors failed, so we ran on five cylinders all day. The loss of performance was very noticeable. On top of that, Vlastík isn’t feeling well and has had a fever for two days. I had stomach cramps. But it’s only the beginning of the Dakar, so we’ll keep fighting," Martin added.

Šoltys’ co-driver, Vlastimil Miksch, also confirmed the difficulties with navigation during the Chrono48 stage. "Navigation-wise, it was a massacre. We tried to shorten our route through the dunes, but we got stuck there. Today was an absolute purgatory. We got lost twice on the salt flats," he said.

The Dakar Rally continues on Tuesday with Stage 3, which the organisers have shortened by a third due to poor weather conditions. The timed section will now be 327 kilometres long.

Buggyra Organisation
Buggyra Organisation
+377 80094459
buggyra@buggyra.com
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