Straight after China, Aliyyah and co-driver Marcin Pasek head to the Qatar International Baja, where Buggyra CEO Martin Koloc returns to race
Aliyyah Koloc and her co-driver Marcin Pasek finished fifth overall at the Yecheng Rally, the last of three events in the Buggyra ZM Racing team’s Chinese campaign. The 22-year-old Czech driver, born in Dubai, and her Polish co-driver took their JJ3 T1+ car to fifth among 24 classified crews. They finished 2 minutes 14 seconds behind fourth place and 32 minutes 44 seconds behind the winners. They were the best-placed foreign crew and the highest-placed woman in the field. The Yecheng Rally, a round of the 2026 China Cross-Country Rally Championship, ran from 19 to 23 October in the Kashgar Prefecture of southern Xinjiang, near the Kunlun Mountains. The crew was supported again by JJ Sport, the racing arm of Hebei-based Jiujiang Group, whose JJ3 cars took four of the top five places.
The rally opened with a prologue, in which Aliyyah and Marcin placed 18th among 33 crews. They climbed to seventh on Stage 1, the best of the foreign crews, and stood sixth overall after another seventh place on Stage 2. An eleventh place on Stage 3 was still enough to move them up to fifth, passing the car that had been 37 seconds ahead. After a seventh place on Stage 4, they led the fight for fifth by just 22 seconds, and a fifth place on Stage 5 stretched that margin to 1 minute 29 seconds. The first three stages crossed the desert, and the final two were run on gravel. The rally covered roughly 600 competitive kilometers.
The result came at the end of an unusual and physically demanding stretch. It was the first time the team had run three rallies in succession: three events in 25 days, across Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Xinjiang, with only a few days between them for travel, repairs and rest. « It’s been a long trip, so I’m looking forward to finally being close to the end, » said Aliyyah before the start of the Yecheng Rally. At the finish, she said that « this race was the best out of the three for the team. » « We made it to the finish, and fifth place overall is a really good result. We didn’t have any issues. Nevertheless, it was really tough in the dunes, but I enjoyed it a lot, especially today’s fast stages. I am very happy to finish on a positive note in China after four long weeks. A huge thank you to JJ Sport for their superb support throughout all three rallies. »
Marcin Pasek called it « the best of the three. » He added: « The stages today were really fast, but I think we managed quite well. We judged the speed well. Of course it wasn’t the smoothest rally, but cross-country rallying doesn’t have many of those. We are really happy to be here at the finish, and I hope we’ll be back soon. »
The China campaign in brief
The campaign opened with the Trans-Kubuqi Desert Elite Challenge (29 September to 2 October) around Hangjinqi in Inner Mongolia. Aliyyah and Marcin were the only foreign crew in a field of 104 starters and finished 24th in the T1+ category, where 44 crews were classified. Aliyyah was also the highest-placed woman in T1+.
The Dunhuang Rally in Gansu Province (7 to 13 October) followed just days later. It covered 1,170 competitive kilometers over four stages plus an 11 km prologue on the Danghe riverbed. The terrain ranged from dry riverbeds and canyons to the open Gobi Desert and towering dunes. The crew ran in the top ten early on, and Aliyyah reached as high as ninth overall before a technical problem ended the third stage. They returned for the finale and finished 44th overall and 26th in T1+ among 57 classified crews. Aliyyah was again the highest-placed woman in the field.
Next: Qatar International Baja, with Martin Koloc back behind the wheel
The team has only a few days to rest before the Qatar International Baja, the penultimate round of both the FIA World Baja Cup and the FIA Middle East Baja Cup, which runs from 28 to 31 October. The event covers 552.36 competitive kilometers, including an 11.12 km prologue, a 336.45 km Stage 1 and a 204.79 km Stage 2.
Martin Koloc, Aliyyah’s father and CEO of Buggyra, returns to competition in Qatar after last racing in the Baja Poland at the end of August. Father and daughter will race in separate cars in the T1+ category. Aliyyah, with Marcin Pasek, will drive the turbo version of the Red-Lined Revo GTR. Martin will drive the non-turbo Red-Lined Revo T1+ with Portuguese co-driver Hugo Magalhães. They will face strong opposition, including six-time Dakar Rally winner and reigning champion Nasser Al-Attiyah.
Alexandra Schieren,