Dakar | Truck, Stage 10: Huzink bis with Renault, Macik controls

Renault can celebrate again: Gerd Huzink deserved his second victory in the 46th edition of the Dakar with the C460 Hybrid, the only hybrid truck that had already won a stage in the last edition.

The Dutchman, not being in contention for the important positions (he is 12th overall with a gap of over 58 hours, of which 32 are penalties) after the disastrous rollover in the initial stages, is left free to race his race, so the leader Martin Macik limits himself to controlling and preceding his podium opponents who, instead, continue to see their gaps widen from the Iveco Powerstar of MM Technology.

Huzink, however, is receiving the confirmation he was looking for: the Renault vehicle, having achieved a certain reliability, is proving to be particularly fast even on the most demanding sections, a sign that it is a truck that will have to be taken into greater consideration in the future. Gerd, a little too optimistically, hoped to be able to fight for the podium already this year, but the facts demonstrate that the transalpine brand can be competitive and, at the moment, the biggest flaw is that Huzink is racing alone against a Iveco Powerstar forest.

The tenth special of 371 km in the Alula ring saw Huzink marked on sight by the Czech Macik: the leader of the standings managed to avoid the trouble in which Mitchel Van den Brink instead ended up. The 21-year-old from Eurol Rallysport left a 1.20' on the road after a very difficult day which allowed him to close the stage in 15th place.

It must be said that Van Den Brink was able to count on the help of Vic Versteijnen who stopped to help his compatriot, escorting him to the finish line. The Dutchman gave up the idea of ​​chasing Janus Van Kasteren's fifth place in the general classification and made himself available to his young colleague who remains third overall, but opened the gap to the elusive Macik to three and a half hours.

The one who enjoyed it was Ales Loprais, solidly second with the Praga V4S DKR, but also the Czech who today finished the timed section fourth, a dozen minutes behind Huzink, broke through two hours from Macik.

Positive day for Michiel Becx, seventh in the general, but third in the stage, for the first time in the podium area with his Powerstar assisted by De Rooy's staff. Six Ivecos in the top seven positions, which become eight in the top ten, testify to the undisputed superiority of the Italian vehicles. In addition to Loprais' Praga in second, there is only Sugawara's Hino, eighth, to break the sequence of Iveco trucks.

To conclude the picture of the day, it is nice to see that Claudio Bellina, back in the Top 10, with the Italtrans Powerstar managed by MM Technology, has the potential to attack the Japanese crew.

Dakar 2024 – General classification Trucks
Stage 10: Alula – Alula
Special: 371 km; Transfer: 241; Total: 612 km