Category: Nezaradené

The ninth stage of the Eco Africa Race 2026, which was just as challenging as yesterday’s, turned out great again for the Slovaks Benko and Sýkora. They are in second place in the finish line, but also in the standings for the SSV.

There are only three stages left until the finish line of the African competition. The first of them will be the most challenging, then two shorter ones that will take the participants to the Pink Lake, where the classic Dakar used to end in the past. In today’s ninth stage, the Slovak crew of Norwit Racing, consisting of the duo Martin Benko and Marek Sýkora, managed to win second place in the SSV category, which also moved them to second place in the standings in the category. However, it was not without problems.

“At first everything went as we had imagined, but towards the end of the stage our engine started to miss. It seems that our injectors have failed, so we have something to do in the bivouac. In addition, there are some noises coming from the gearbox, so we’d better go and change it straight away. It could have been better today, but in this case we’re taking second place. We believe that we’ll manage to put everything in order and tomorrow we’ll be able to really unpack it again. The important thing is that we don’t give up and keep going,” Martin Benko described the problems in the ninth stage.

As we mentioned at the beginning, there are still three stages left until the finish line of the entire competition. The most demanding will be tomorrow’s tenth stage, which will consist of a circuit around the Mauritanian town of Quad Naga. It will measure a total of four hundred and seventy kilometers, and this number will also include exactly four hundred and forty-five sharp kilometers, which the participants will complete mainly on a sandy surface. Of course, when conquering the route, they will face pitfalls in the form of difficult navigation and smaller or larger sand dunes.

The eighth stage of the Eco Africa Race 2026 in the SSV category was clearly won by the Slovak crew of the Norwit Racing Team, the duo Martin Benko – Marek Sýkora on the Taurus T3 Maxi buggy.

The racing crew of Martin Benko and Marek Sýkora, who together with the Norwit Racing Team are the only ones representing Slovakia at this year’s Eco Africa Race, proved to all their opponents that they feel like fish in water on the really navigationally and drivingly demanding tracks. They clearly won the eighth stage, while in the SSV category standings they are in third place, with a loss of less than forty minutes to the leading crew, and in the overall ranking of the Car category they close the TOP10 of the standings.

“Today’s stage was definitely a good one for us, both in terms of navigation and riding. We started as the fifth crew, which was quite an advantage. There were no confusing tracks on the track and the track consisted of soft sand and smaller dunes. We were doing really well, especially in the first half, when we managed to fight our way through to first place. There were only about one hundred and sixty very fast kilometers left to the finish line from the refueling point. We knew that we had no chance of competing with the big cars, so we went our own way and really enjoyed it. Today’s track was really beautiful, the scenery, beautiful valleys filled with sand, dunes, many backward villages that looked like they were from the Middle Ages. Well, it was just great, not only the ride, but also a feast for the eyes. We are extremely satisfied, the car is fine, so we can continue tomorrow,” Martin Benko described the eighth stage.

On Wednesday (4.2.2026), the Eco Africa Race 2026 stage will take place from Aidzidine to Ouad Naga. Its total length will be four hundred and ninety kilometers, including a four hundred and twenty-six kilometer timed section. The surface of the course should be similar to today, i.e. sand and sand dunes.