Chery Rely cars doing good in '10 Dakar Rally

Shanghai, January 14 (Gasgoo.com) Chinese veteran rally driver Lu Ningjun moved up in the overall standings on Tuesday after finishing 30th overall in the 10th stage of the Dakar Rally, marathonrally.com reported.

Lu, who is at the wheel of a Chery Rely X5 and is making his sixth trip to the world's most grueling rally, completed the stage in three hours, 49 minutes and 44 seconds. He moved up to 28th, the best of five Chinese participants in the car category.

Lu's teammate Jiang Yaohuan, also driving a China made Chery Rely X5, was 21st on Tuesday and moved up to 34th overall.

"We are proud of the work being done by our pilots in the competition, as it reaffirms the quality and strength of our brand," said Alejandro NicoliniThe Commercial Manager of Chery Argentina.

The 2010 Dakar Rally started on New Year's Day in Buenos Aires and will end on January 16 in the South American city. This year, the route measures 9,000km, with four of the 14 legs of the race running through the Atacama Desert.

Chery has fielded its Rely fleet of SUVs: two X5 race cars, one X5 conductor car and one H5 support car. Leading the driver lineup is Ningjun Lu, who has raced in Dakar five times before.

On Wednesday, the leading brand in the Rally was X-Raid BMW X3CC, followed by Mitsubishi Racing Lancer, VW Race Touareg. (See the details here.)