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Issue #7:January 10, 2026
Stage 6 on January 9 marked the final day of the first half of the rally. Competitors tackled a 326 km SS (competition section) running southeast from Ha’il in northern Saudi Arabia to the capital city of Riyadh. The course mostly consisted of deep sand, forming the event’s first dune stage. Despite encountering trouble with the steering system, car #503 with Ronald Basso and Julien Menard reached the finish safely in 106th overall in the 4‑wheel vehicle rankings and 4th in the Stock class. Car #501 with Akira Miura and Jean‑Michel Polato had fallen behind in the ranks due to the previous day’s daily retirement, and although they were forced to slow down their pace after damaging the intercooler, they still completed the stage 112th overall and 5th in class. In the cumulative rankings, car #503 is now 77th overall and 3rd in the Stock class, 1 hour 51 minutes 56 seconds behind the leading Land Rover Defender, car #502 with Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Vidal. Car #501 finished the first half in 129th place overall and 5th in class.
The SS began in hills to the east following a 322 km liaison (transfer section) from the Ha’il bivouac and mostly consisted of alternating sandy pistes and dunes. Between the 78 km and 129 km points, there was a paved transfer section that doesn’t count towards the competition. Car #503 progressed smoothly without getting stuck or suffering punctures, but after passing the midpoint, a steering‑system issue surfaced. This made the steering heavy, but the crew made it to the finish.
Meanwhile, car #501 damaged the intercooler after landing from a dune jump near the end of the stage. As a result, intake temperatures rose, forcing them to slow down. Both cars arrived at the finish after sunset when the area was completely dark.
After the finish, competitors traveled another 267 km on liaison to the bivouac located on the outskirts of Riyadh. It was a long stage that covered a distance of 915 km.
(Provisional rankings as of 4:00 AM Japan time)
Miura (driver): Today’s SS took us through an area that gave me a lot of trouble in last year’s rally, so I was prepared for a tough day. But with the rain having packed the sand down, it wasn’t as difficult as expected. Now that we’ve finished the first half, we have a clearer sense of the capabilities of our rivals. Instead of simply competing with speed, our approach is to focus on running trouble‑free and waiting for the right opportunities.
Basso (driver): Partway through the stage, we experienced some issues with the power steering, and for the last 100 km or so I had to drive through the dunes with very heavy steering. Aside from that, we didn’t get stuck or have any other issues. Including the liaison, we traveled more than 900 km, but I’m not feeling so fatigued. In the second half, we’ll continue as usual, while taking care of the car and making sure we reach the finish.