The Dakar Rally has just wrapped up its fourth stage, and Ellen Lohr and the Kwikpower Mercedes-Benz team had an outstanding performance on the 240 mile journey, making up ground from earlier stages jumping nearly 30 positions in the overall standings.

According to Lohr:  “Today we finally had the chance of proving our car's competitiveness. The 387-kilometre special stage featured gravel tracks, dunes and twisty sections and was both demanding and varied. Despite several perils, my co-pilot, Detlef, delivered a flawless navigation performance and following yesterday's frustrating stage when we drove in the dust clouds of the cars in front of us and didn't have the slightest chance of securing a better result, today's result proves that we are heading in the right direction."

Currently, Lohr and the Kwikpower Mercedes are sitting in 39th position.

We'll be sure to keep you posted as the race progresses; in the meantime, you can check out the full press release below.


OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE


Nearly 30 positions gained – a splendid Dakar day for Ellen Lohr in her M-Class prototype

Quarzazate/Morocco – For Kwikpower Mercedes-Benz and the team's rally driver, Ellen Lohr, the fourth stage of the Dakar Rally turned out to be a great one. Over the course of the 387-kilometre special stage – the event's longest, so far – Ellen Lohr made up a lot of ground, thus gaining nearly 30 positions in the overall standings and moving up from 67 th to 39 th place, with the great co-operation between the 40-year old German and her 35-year old co-pilot, Detlef Ruf, being a key factor for this success. In today's special stage, the pairing in the new Mercedes-Benz M-Class finished 30 th , and without a tyre puncture with just 30 more kilometres to go, an even better result had been possible.

Ellen Lohr: “Today we finally had the chance of proving our car's competitiveness. The 387-kilometre special stage featured gravel tracks, dunes and twisty sections and was both demanding and varied. Despite several perils, my co-pilot, Detlef, delivered a flawless navigation performance and following yesterday's frustrating stage when we drove in the dust clouds of the cars in front of us and didn't have the slightest chance of securing a better result, today's result proves that we are heading in the right direction. And the same can be said regarding our strategy: to opt for a careful attitude. That does good. I'm particularly delighted for our squad that has once again succeeded in professionally preparing our car for the nearly 700 kilometres we had to cover during today's stage.”

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