Buggyra ZM Racing has made a competitive start in China to what is only its second Taklimakan Rally, with driver Aliyyah Koloc and co-driver Marcin Pasek showing steady pace and finishing every stage so far in the top 15.
-- The team is competing this year in partnership with Chinese outfit JJ Sport, with Aliyyah Koloc driving the JJ Sport JJ3 in the elite T1+ category, a continuation of Buggyra's long-term development program in the Chinese market.
In the prologue, a ‘warm-up’ stage of about 25 kilometers in a field of over 150 cars, Koloc set the tenth-fastest time. She then finished 14th in the opening stage and claimed sixth place in Monday's second stage. Yesterday’s stage was a particular challenge for the 21-year-old and her co-driver, as they had to navigate most of the stage without fully functioning brakes. Aliyyah still managed to go fast and finished sixth on the stage.
"In terms of terrain diversity, the Taklimakan is probably much more demanding than the Dakar," Buggyra team principal Martin Koloc said. "You'll be driving through snow-covered mountains and, a few hours later, find yourself in a desert with temperatures reaching 45 to 50 degrees. There are plenty of rivers, valleys, and rocks."
The opening days have confirmed those conditions first-hand. "It was very, very cold at the first bivouac. I think it snowed a little, so it was freezing," Aliyyah Koloc said. "We have plenty of jackets with us, but I hope the weather improves a bit during the rally. We are working with a Chinese team for the first time, so I had to get used to a lot of things, for example, working through a translator, but the car is really great. The organizer's briefing showed that this will be a really tough rally."
That proved true in yesterday’s stage: "When we jumped over a small ditch and landed slightly sideways early on, the pipe started leaking, and we slowly lost our brakes. For the last 60 kilometers, we had no brakes at all, so I am glad we made it to the finish. It was the longest day, very tough, but we made very few mistakes. We even towed one of the other JJ Sport cars back to the bivouac," Aliyyah said.
"I enjoy the Taklimakan very much. Compared to the Dakar, the stages are very fast, which I enjoy. There are also a lot more difficult situations here, like holes and ditches, so you need to be careful, but I like challenges," she summed up her experience at the Taklimakan so far.
For Buggyra, this year’s participation is a continuation of its long-term program in China. Beyond the challenge of navigating checkpoints and racing against the clock, it is also about gaining experience in an environment that differs significantly from both European events and the Dakar.
About the Taklimakan Rally
Covering approximately 8,000 kilometers across China's Xinjiang province, with more than half in timed stages, the Taklimakan Rally is widely regarded as one of the world's most demanding endurance events. Crews navigate snow-covered mountain sections, rocky canyons, dry riverbeds, and the vast dunes of the Taklimakan Desert, with daytime temperatures reaching fifty degrees and near-freezing nights at the bivouac. The combination of extreme terrain diversity and logistical scale draws frequent comparisons to the Dakar Rally. Speed alone is not enough, vehicle preservation and crew endurance are equally decisive.
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