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Issue #11:January 15, 2025
On January 14th, the Stage 9 course was held in the mountainous area from Riyadh to Haradh, covering a competition section of 357 km. Competing in this SS (Special Stage) in the Production Car (Stock) category with Land Cruiser 300s, TLC’s Akira Miura and Jean-Michel Polato in car #500 finished 107th overall in the Car category and 1st in the Production Car (Stock) category. Meanwhile, Ronald Basso and Jean-Pierre Garcin in car #501 finished 113th overall with a time difference of 6 minutes and 23 seconds, and 2nd in the same category. As a result, the cumulative rankings are as follows: Car #501 is in 87th place overall in the Cars category while car #500 is in 88th place with a time gap of 15 minutes and 57 seconds, guarding TLC's one-two position in the Production Car (Stock) category.
The stage began with a 112 km liaison (transfer section) from the Riyadh bivouac to the SS start in the mountains. From the beginning, the SS featured high-speed hard gravel roads with extreme dust, followed by twisty winding sections, rocky areas, and rough terrain. The second half of the stage was especially challenging, with road conditions worse than those seen in past rallies, making it a grueling SS for TLC's Land Cruiser 300s, which are based on production cars.
Both TLC cars proceeded with caution to avoid any significant damage to the vehicles. Despite this, Miura and Polato in car #500 suffered three punctures by the time they neared the end of the stage. To make matters worse, they encountered a fourth puncture just 50 km before the finish line. Having used all three spare tires, they had to replace the final punctured tire with the least damaged one out of the three punctured tires and continued. When that tire was too damaged to go on any further, they swapped it with another punctured tire and finally made it to the finish. (Car #500 was able to receive spare tires from the team's assistance car in the service-permitted area, allowing them to safely make it to the bivouac.)
Meanwhile, Ronald Basso and Jean-Pierre Garcin in car #501 experienced a turbocharger control issue about 50 km after the start, forcing them to slow down. Moving on, they continued to face a series of minor issues, including an automatic fire extinguisher which activated on its own, and the rear left shock absorber failing. They also suffered two punctures, but they managed to reach the finish safely.
After completing the SS, they merged with the assistance route on a 120 km liaison (transfer section), arriving in the town of Haradh, known for its natural gas extraction base.
Tomorrow, it’s time for the team to start the final stages of the rally, venturing from Haradh to Shubaytah and entering the "Empty Quarter" (a vast, empty land) desert area in southern Saudi Arabia. On the 15th, a 120 km competition is scheduled after the liaison to the Shubaytah area.
Driver Miura: The terrain in the second half of the SS was particularly rough and challenging. The four punctures were due to my errors, but overall, I feel things are flowing nicely. I'm looking forward to the dune stages starting tomorrow.
Driver Basso: We encountered some small issues, but it was a smooth run otherwise. We had two punctures in rocky areas, but I'm glad that’s all we had to deal with.