Laia Sanz and Maurizio Gerini, one step away from finishing the 2024 Dakar Rally

Madrid, January 18th, 2024 – The astara Team has successfully overcome the dreaded penultimate stage of the 2024 Dakar Rally and can already see the end of the competition on the horizon. On a 420-kilometer timed route over very hard and rocky terrain, Laia Sanz and Maurizio Gerini have managed to overcome all the traps and are now just one step away from completing another edition together of the most demanding rally-raid on the planet.

Marked as one of the days in which the classification could be turned upside down, the organization has designed a route through inhospitable areas, very broken and with a heavy presence of rocks. This has been the biggest challenge of this week for participants who are already at their physical limits after so many days of competition.

Laia Sanz and Maurizio Gerini were eager to continue recovering pace, especially after a tenth stage in which they were very competitive in the comparative timetable. The astara 02 Concept was also very comfortable again on this type of terrain, finishing in the Top 20 in the stage classification for the cars and achieving the second-best time among the two-wheel drive cars.

The breakage of a left wheel in the final part of the special stage meant that Sanz-Gerini had to face the last kilometers of the special stage on three wheels. Despite this, they will fight tomorrow to regain their position among the top 15 in the car category, as well as to guarantee their place on the T1.2 Ultimate podium in a 46th edition that is proving to be particularly demanding for this rear-wheel drive vehicle configuration.

Laia Sanz says: "It was a bit of an adventurous day. I think we have taken on the stage very well, as we should, being conservative. The pity was that almost at the end of the stage we broke the left handlebar and we were left with three wheels. But we didn't stop and luckily we made it to the end, which we are very happy about, because it could have been much worse. It's a pity, because we lost some positions in the general standings, but there's still one day to go, so tomorrow we'll go for everything".

Maurizio Gerini adds: "We found rocks almost everywhere and a terrain where it was very easy to make mistakes. We are satisfied because we had set a very well-balanced, competitive pace, but at the same time without getting into too much trouble. It's a pity about that problem at the end, but we kept fighting and we are very happy with the race we are doing".

Óscar Fuertes, sporting director of the astara Team, says: "As expected, it was a very hard day in which Laia and Maurizio were doing well and only that problem in the final part of the stage led us to lose some time. The team is happy to see the final goal of this Dakar Rally 2024 closer and closer and tomorrow we will try to regain that place in the top 15".

This Friday, January 19th, the last stage of the 2024 Dakar Rally will take place, this time with a competitive route of just 175 timed kilometers. For the organizers, "the special stage does not present any major difficulties", but it has already been seen in the past that this type of stage has still given rise to last minute surprises. The astara Team will completely overhaul the astara 02 Concept to make sure it is in full condition for this last step towards the finish in Yanbu.

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