Return of Gautier Paulin to victory in the tenth stage of the Africa Eco Race 2024. The leader of the classification prevailed over the Portuguese duo composed of driver Ricardo Sousa and navigator Jorge Brandão.
In a day with 196.59km timed between Amodjar and Akjoujt, Paulin (Apache) took 1h50m46s to complete the course. With that, he surpassed Sousa and Brandão (Old Friends Rally Team/Can-Am) by mere 26 seconds. The top two also led in the T3, while the third-place finisher, Pascal Feryn (Feryn Dakar Team/Toyota), set the pace in the T1.
Followed by the best in the T4, Heatcliff Zingraf (Casteu Trophy/Can-Am), while Pierre-Louis Loubet (Apache) completed a top five that fit in just 8m10s. In the top ten were also another Portuguese duo, Rui Oliveira/Bernardo Oliveira (Old Friends Rally Team/Can-Am), in seventh place (fourth in the T3), as well as Aad van Velsen (Van Velsen Rally Sport/Scania), who was the day’s winner in trucks.
With only two days left, Paulin has a nearly four-hour lead in the overall standings: he is 3h59m21s ahead of Feryn. Carlos Vento (Old Friends Rally Team/Can-Am) remains in third place, with the top three leading in their respective classes: T3, T1, and T4.
Tomas Tomecek (Promet Czechoslovak Group Team/Tatra) remains in fourth place in the trucks category, with a lead of 2h17m27s over van Velsen, who is now fifth overall in the cars: surpassing Frédéric Henricy (AT4R/Polaris), the leader in the SSV category. There are already two Portuguese duos in the top ten: Rui Oliveira/Bernardo Oliveira remain in ninth place, while Sousa/Brandão climbed to tenth. They are second and third in the T3, respectively.
Top ten of Stage 10:
Top ten overall:
