No one has arguments for Eryk Goczal in the Challengers in this Dakar 2024. The Polish driver was a clear winner in the sixth stage, which took place over two days, and further solidified his lead in the category. In SSV, Xavier de Soultrait was the winner of a very close race.
Starting with the most powerful Challengers, Eryk Goczal (Energylandia Rally Team/Can-Am) set a devilish pace: he was the only one to complete the over 600km timed in less than eight hours and even finished fifth in the combined standings of all car categories. He surpassed his teammate Michal Goczal by a clear 15m45s, with Cristina Gutiérrez (Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA by BFG/Taurus) in third place, 18m56s behind.
In the overall standings, Eryk Goczal now has over an hour’s advantage – Mitchell Guthrie (Taurus Factory Team) moved up to second place after the abandonment of Marek Goczal (Energylandia Rally Team/Can-Am) and is 1h02m18s behind. Gutiérrez is third, 1h26m34s behind. There is now a Portuguese driver in the top ten, with Ricardo Porém (MMP/BRP) moving up to ninth place after finishing 11th in the stage.
In SSV, the sixth stage was much closer, with the top five separated by less than ten minutes. The victory went to de Soultrait (Sébastien Loeb Racing Bardahl Team/Prodrive) with a 1m05s margin over Yasir Seaidan (MMP/BRP). After finishing yesterday as the fastest, João Ferreira (Can-Am Factory Team) ended up in third place, 3m35s behind the winner.
The top three in the overall standings before this stage were delayed, including former leader Jérôme de Sadeleer (MMP/BRP). A situation that was taken advantage of by several drivers, starting with Seaidan, who is now at the top of the standings with an 8m08s margin over Sara Price (South Racing Can-Am). De Soultrait is now fifth ahead of Ferreira, while de Sadeleer dropped to fifth.
Top ten of Stage 6 (Challenger):
Top ten overall (Challenger):
Top ten of Stage 6 (SSV):
Top ten overall (SSV):
