Key points:
Some promises can trigger dread and excitement at the same time. Case in point: the one made at the presentation of the 2024 route, which gave an enthusiastic response to the competitors' mantra that "a great Dakar is a tough Dakar". Their wish has come true, and they will only get a few days before the start to soak up the atmosphere in AlUla, where a giant bivouac will be set up again following the experience of the final scrutineering held on the Red Sea coast last year. David Castera's three-star menu stands out for its gruelling first week. The competitors will feast their eyes on never-seen-before volcanic landscapes… or they would if they were not busy tackling long, hard stages on a patchwork of terrains from the get-go. The marathon stage, a two-day challenge in which the competitors will have to race on eggshells, comes as early as stage 3. At the end of the week, the concept goes one step further with the introduction of a "48h chrono": imagine the grandiose clang of a bell filling the twilight air in the Empty Quarter, ordering every single competitor to halt their vehicle and spend the night under the starry skies before getting back on the move at sunrise. In practice, the time limit will be 4 pm. When the clock strikes four, the entrants will have to stop at the next of the six rest areas that punctuate the course of the special.
Following this "race within a race", which is sure to scatter the title contenders to the four winds on the eve of the rest day in Riyadh, the second week has all the ingredients needed to keep fans on the edge of their seats. Alternating extreme stages and courses that will give entrants a bit of a breather, the competitors in pursuit will get several opportunities to surge up the standings on the road to Al Duwadimi, on the return trip to AlUla or in the final approach to Yanbu. Until the eve of the finale, which features the toughest stage of the second week, the odd-numbered stages offer the best risk-to-reward ratio, although the competitors will have to keep their eyes peeled to dodge the navigational pitfalls that litter the desert throughout this new Saudi odyssey.
Source Dakar Rally / A.S.O.
The last round for the crown! 💥 It all comes down to this in Morocco!
{youtube}https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTSNBx-raHc{/youtube}
All rights belong to A.S.O. / W2RC Publiched on RRN in cooperation with W2RC
The mysterious and magical roads of the Baja California peninsula will be the main attraction of the BFGoodrich Tires 57th SCORE Baja 1000. The race course map is now available for everyone at www.score-international.com, covering 869.13 miles for pro classes of motorcycle and trucks, all starting and finishing their adventure on the Boulevard Costero, adjacent to the Riviera de Ensenada Cultural Center in the heart of Ensenada.
From Nov. 11 to 17, the excitement of the fourth and final round of the 2024 SCORE World Desert Championship will take place in "The Cinderella of the Pacific," with nearly 300 teams expected from Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceania, South America and North America in a new chapter of the world’s most important desert race, which has captured the attention of millions for over five decades.
Since its inception in 1967 as the Mexican 1000 by NORRA to its evolution into the SCORE Baja 1000 under Mickey Thompson and Sal Fish, this legendary desert race has reached levels of admiration that place it alongside the Dakar Rally in Africa and Europe, the Indianapolis 500, and even the Monaco Grand Prix in Formula One.
For the Sportsman classes of motorcycles, cars, trucks, and UTVs, the route will cover 736.61 miles, with all competitors having a 36-hour time limit to complete the elapsed-time SCORE Baja 1000.
Motorcycles and Quads will start receiving the Green Flag on the Boulevard Costero of Ensenada on Friday, Nov. 15, at 12:15am PT, while cars/trucks/UTVs will depart from the same area in front of the iconic Riviera de Ensenada Cultural Center at 9am PT.
Overall winners are expected to complete the desert journey in approximately 15 hours for cars/trucks/UTVs, while motorcycles/quads will take 16 hours. The raceroute will showcase the best of the northern Baja California peninsula in terms of terrain, starting just steps from the Pacific Ocean, then crossing to the other side of the peninsula to advance at night along the Sea of Cortez, surrounded by the majesty of nature in this part of Mexico.
ROUTE TO GLORY
From the start of the SCORE Baja 1000 on Boulevard Costero in Ensenada, it then heads by road, at a moderate speed, towards Nelson Ranch. Competitors then proceed to Ojos Negros, Ejido Uruapan, Santo Tomas, Ejido Erendira, Punta Colonet, Ejido Jaramillo, San Quintin, Ejido Nueva Odisea, El Rosario, Catavina, Guayaquil, La Bachata wash, San Ignacito, Gonzaga, the infamous Matomi wash, Llanos de San Martin, El Azufre wash, Puertecitos old road, Chanate wash, Morelia Junction, Diablo dry lake, Las Minitas wash, El Chinero, La Ventana, Ejido Saldana 2, El Arrajal wash, the San Matias wind farm, the San Matias crossing highway, Valley of Trinidad, the popular Goat trail, Ejido Jamau, Santa Catarina, Kilometer 77, Ojos Negros, Real del Castillo, Nelson ranch, and back to Ensenada.
There will be three physical, full-stop checkpoints. CP No. 1 will be at Ejido El Papalote (race mile 209.69), No. 2 at Rancho San Martín (rm 378.5), and No. 3 at San Matias (rm 731.85).
There will also be a total of 494 Virtual Check Points (VCPs along the race course.
A total of 20 speed-controlled zones are part of this SCORE Baja 1000 race course, covering 125.42 miles, with sections where competitors must maintain a speed of 37 miles per hour, and in other areas, the maximum speed will be 60 miles per hour.
REGISTRATION OPEN
This morning, the registration period opened for racers, navigators, and race teams, as well as for media outlets covering the BFGoodrich Tires 57th SCORE Baja 1000. Registrations can be completed at www.score-international.com, where the forms are already available to sign up and be part of the world's largest extreme adventure in motorsport and automotive racing.
PRE-RUNNING OPENS OCT. 26
On Saturday, Oct. 26, at 8am PT the pre-running for the SCORE Baja 1000 course will open for officially registered teams, marking the start of this special phase of desert racing, starting just past Ojos Negros. All participants are reminded to drive at moderate speeds, not racing speeds, during the reconnaissance, as well as to respect traffic laws in Mexico and the urban and rural areas through which the race course will pass.
METHOD RACE WHEELS QUALIFYING
Tuesday, Nov. 12 starting at 7am PT, the Method Race Wheels Qualifying for the SCORE Baja 1000 will take place for the SCORE Trophy Truck, SCORE TT Legends, and Trophy Truck Spec classes at a private venue.
Spectators are not allowed at the Method Race Wheels qualifying session, but SCORE Live will air the activity on the SCORE website and SCORE social media channels.
Method Race Wheels Qualifying will determine the starting order in these three classes for "The Granddaddy of All Desert Races," marking the first time in SCORE history that all four events have qualifying, generating greater economic impact in the event locations, such as San Felipe and Ensenada.
MUCHA FIESTA IN ENSENADA
For this SCORE Baja 1000, contingency row will be divided into two days: Wednesday, Nov. 13, and Thursday, Nov. 14. This popular activity will take place in the heart of Ensenada, on the Boulevard Costero, both days from 8am to 5pm (PT), with free entry for the public.
The awards ceremony for the SCORE Baja 1000 will be on Sunday, Nov, 17, at 12pm (PT) in the Cathedral Room of the Riviera de Ensenada Cultural Center. This event will be open to the general public, marking the conclusion of the 57th anniversary of this legendary desert race.
Source: Score International
AMMAN (JORDAN): Jordan Motorsport today (Friday) announced details of the Jordan Baja, the seventh and penultimate round of both the FIA World Baja Cup and the FIM Bajas World Cup and round three of the FIA Middle East Cup. The event will be based in Aqaba and runs from November 14th-16th.
The Hashemite Kingdom’s premier off-road event returns to the international calendar after a one-year absence and will again utilise stunning desert terrain in the world-renowned Wadi Rum in southern Jordan.
Competitors taking part in all three championships will face 566.46 competitive kilometres over two legs in a route of 775.31km laid on by rally officials under Chairman of the Organising Committee Zaid Balqez, Clerk of the Course Khaled Zakaria, his deputy Loai Marei and their experienced organising team. Omar Zarour will act as Clerk of the Course for the FIM event.
The Jordan Baja will be based at the Hyatt Regency Aqaba Ayla Resort and the start and finish will take place at the nearby Arab Revolt Plaza in the stunning city of Aqaba adjacent to the pristine waters of the Red Sea.
Scrutineering at the Aqaba Service Park and administrations checks at Rally HQ will take place on Wednesday, November 13th. The three-kilometre Prologue stage will then kick start the timed competition to determine the starting orders for the opening stage on Thursday (November 14th) afternoon from 14.07hrs (first FIM). The Prologue precedes the ceremonial start, commencing at 16.45hrs.
Event regulations have now been posted with entrants set to tackle a demanding stage of 349.14km through Wadi Rum on Friday (November 15th) - split into two sections of 243.00km and 106.14km - and a second stage of 214.32km on Saturday (November 16th).
The final timed test precedes the podium ceremony and prize giving at the Arab Revolt Plaza from 17.00hrs and the post-event press conference, starting at 18.00hrs.
“We are delighted to be back in the international FIA and FIM motor sporting calendars this year and are looking forward to the return of world-class cross-country rallying to Jordan,” said Zaid Balqez. “This particular area of southern Jordan is blessed with some of the most spectacular terrain on the planet and our competitors will be able to appreciate the beauty of the region. We continue to tweak and make improvements to our round of the FIA and FIM Bajas World Cups and I am sure that competitors coming here for the first time with be awestruck with some of the scenery we use for the Baja. This has been showcased frequently by numerous blockbuster Hollywood films, including The Martian, Aladdin, Dune and Star Wars.”
Following the unfortunate cancellation of the 2023 event, Saleh Al-Saif is the defending Jordan Baja champion, the Saudi having won the FIA event outright and the T3 (now Challenger) category in 2022 at the helm of his Can-Am Maverick X3 with co-driver Egor Okhotnikov. Kuwait’s Meshari Al-Thefiri teamed up with Frenchman François Cazalet to prevail in the T4 (now SSV) section in his Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo RR.
The UAE’s Mohammed Al-Balooshi won the motorcycle section for a third time in succession and Saudi Arabia’s Abdulmajeed Al-Khulaifi won the quad category for the first time on his Yamaha Raptor.
Entries are now open and a closing date has been set for Wednesday, October 30th.
For further information, contact Jordan Motorsport, P.O. Box 143222, Bayader Wadi Seer, 11814, Amman, Jordan, Tel: +962 (6) 585 5190, Email: info@jordanbaja.com.
Source: Jordan Motorsport
LUSAIL (Qatar): The 2024 Qatar International Baja has moved from March to new dates from October 30th to November 2nd and will play host to both the sixth rounds of the FIA World Baja Cup and the FIM Bajas World Cup and round two of the FIA Middle East Baja Cup.
The event is being organised by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) and will run under the chairmanship of QMMF President Abdulrahman Al-Mannai, QMMF’s Executive Director Amro Al-Hamad and board member Abdulrazaq Al-Kuwari.
Clerk of the Course Pedro Almeida and his deputy Rashid Al-Sulaiti have tweaked the timetable and laid on a challenging route across some of the most demanding desert terrain in Qatar. Administration and technical scrutineering will again be based at the Lusail Sports Complex.
The 9.9km Prologue stage will kick off the competitive action from 13.15hrs onwards on Thursday, October 31st before the ceremonial start takes centre stage from 19.20hrs. The spectacular Katara Amphitheatre – the gem of Katara Cultural Village - will host the start, pre and post-event press conferences and the final prize giving, as has been the case on one occasion in the past.
As per the new regulations for FIA events, times set on the Prologue stage will merely determine starting positions for the following day and will not count towards the general classification.
FIA competitors will then tackle stages of 122.48km and 122.04km through the Qatar deserts separated by a regrouping on Friday, November 1st. FIM entrants will cross the same terrain for one stage in total with the two sections run in reverse order and separated by a neutralisation zone for refuelling.
All competitors will then tackle a 249.68km stage on Saturday (November 2nd), split by transfer zones, with the first of the motorcycles and quads starting 1hr 45min ahead of the leading FIA vehicles. There will be a refuelling point for FIM competitors after 125km with the second part of the stage being held entirely in the picturesque Sealine region to the south of Doha.
In a compact route of 856.43km, FIA competitors will tackle 494.20 competitive kilometres. FIM entrants will follow a route of 888.50km with 504.64km timed against the clock.
The Baja replaced the longer Qatar Cross-Country Rally in 2022 and has become an integral member of both the international FIA and FIM calendars. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel claimed overall victory in the car category last year in a Toyota Hilux, young Pole Konrad Dabrowski won the motorcycle section for a second year in a row and Arnoud Dom of Belgium prevailed in the quads.
Meshari Al-Thefiri (MCE-3 T3M) and Jeremie Warnia (Polaris) won the FIA T3 (now Challenger) and T4 (now SSV) categories.
Entries opened today (September 4th) and will close at reduced rates on October 2nd with a final cut-off set for October 16th
The QMMF is offering generous concessions to competitors who pass both administration and scrutineering checks. Entrants in the FIA categories from the GCC will be offered a shipping allowance of $3,000, with international entrants receiving $6,000. Economy class air tickets will also be supplied by the QMMF for international entrants after entry fees have been paid, in addition to a twin room for five nights with breakfast.
FIA entrants who register before October 2nd will also be eligible for a 10,000 QAR start prize, provided they pass both administration and scrutineering checks with the figure reducing to 8,000 QAR thereafter until October 16th.
GCC motorcycle and quad riders will be eligible for $1,500 and $3,000 will be offered to international riders. FIM entrants who register before October 2nd will also be eligible for a 5,000 QAR start prize, provided they pass both administration and scrutineering checks with the figure reducing to 4,000 QAR thereafter until October 16th. Similar flight and hotel concessions will also be offered to FIM entries.
For further event information, competitors and teams can contact Davy Patterson, Competitor Liaison Officer (CRO), Email: davypatterson777@gmail.com and WhatsApp: +44 7980 613944.
For general information about the 2024 Qatar International Baja, contact the Qatar Motor and Motor Cycle Federation (QMMF), P.O. Box 8708, Doha, Qatar, Tel: + 974 443 79885, Fax: + 974 443 79732, E-mail: info@qmmf.com.qa and www.qmmf.com
Source QQMF
Hino Motors Limited of Japan has announced that it will compete in its 34th Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia in January 2025 as it aims to build further on its record for reliability in this gruelling cross-country raid. It has notched up 33 consecutive finishes since taking part in the 1991 Dakar Rally.
Since its debut at least one Hino truck has qualified as a finisher in each event. Last year the sole Hino – the only Japanese truck in the field – finished in sixth place overall out of 20 finishers from an original field of 46 trucks.
The bonneted US market Hino 600 Series truck raced in the 2024 event, will form the basis for the 2025 challenger. Several important improvements have been made to the truck to further improve reliability and make servicing simpler. Changes include re-routing piping around the engine to keep them out of harm’s way and beefing up the automatic transmission’s clutch plates.
The maintenance process at the overnight stops is being revised to keep time consuming and labour-intensive maintenance tasks from overlapping.
Dakar 2025 will be the 47th staging of this famous off-road rally raid. It will start in Bisha on 3 January and finish in Subbaiah on 17 January. There will be 12 timed stages and one rest day. The organisers say it will be one of the toughest in the history of the event with a big sting in the tail as the finish will be located at the end of a three-day “adventure” in the so-called “Empty Quarter” which is a mass of sand dunes. There will also be two marathon stages which will not permit servicing by anyone than the crews themselves.
“We are fully committed to continuing to work together in a challenging environment to ensure we build a faster and even more reliable trucks for Dakar 2025,” said Teruhito Sugawara, the Team Director and driver.
“We are delighted that Hino has announced that it will once again take on the tough challenge of the Dakar Rally as we feel it is wonderful for the morale of all involved with the brand to follow the fortunes of our truck in the world’s most demanding motorsport event,” commented Itumeleng Segage, General Manager of Hino SA. “The record set of finishing 33 consecutive races is a great public display for Hino reliability which resounds with our customers.”
Source: Hino Motors
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Witness the thrilling birth of The Ultimate Raptor as Ford Performance creates the Raptor T1+ to take on the world's toughest off-road race, the Dakar Rally. Dive behind the scenes of the meticulous process building the ultimate Raptor from CAD designs to making its first tracks in the wild. This journey isn’t just about a rally; it’s a celebration of technical innovation, teamwork, ultimate off-road adventures, and determination. Watch what goes into creating the ultimate Raptor, inspired by our favorite road Raptors.
With expertise from legendary drivers Nani Roma and Carlos Sainz Sr, and testing in the rugged trees of Greystoke Forest, you’ll see what it takes to push the limits of performance. Every step is a testament to passion, resilience, and the relentless pursuit of excellence from both Ford Performance and M-Sport to build the Ultimate Raptor.
The second half of July marked a key moment for the 2024 edition of Sertões BRB (August 23-31). The team led by technical director Edgar Fabre checked the route that will start and finish in Brasília, passing through Formosa (GO), Santa Maria da Vitória (BA) and Luís Eduardo Magalhães (BA).
Based on the survey of the route completed at the beginning of May, the necessary adjustments were made to the distances of the stages and special stages in order to assemble the final spreadsheets, which will be delivered to the competitors on the eve of each stage.
With the changes, the Sertões BRB 2024 will have a total of 3,704 kilometers. Of these, 2,306 kilometers will be timed, which will determine the winners in motorcycles, UTVs, cars and quads.
With its sights set on the grueling off-road Dakar Rally, Ford Performance and some of the best minds in off-road racing have designed and engineered the new Ford Raptor T1+ – the pinnace of Raptor design and capability.
The truck applies learnings from this year’s Dakar Rally to deliver an advanced suspension, V8 performance, and purpose-built design to help conquer the most unforgiving rally raid terrains. Debuting at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Raptor T1+ is engineered in collaboration with long-term Ford Performance partners, M-Sport Ltd.
“Taking on such a demanding race like Dakar is a daunting task for all of us at Ford Performance, but we have never shirked a challenge,” said Mark Rushbrook, Global Director of Ford Performance Motorsports. “To embrace this challenge, we have partnered with the best in the world with M-Sport and Red Bull and I think it shows how seriously we are taking this project. The Ford Raptor T1+ is a stake in the ground for our global off-road vision – we want to take on the best and prove ourselves in the toughest places on earth. The lessons we are learning from Raptor T1+, along with competing with stock trucks in Baja 1000 and Finke Desert Race, will help make Raptor vehicles even better for our customers.” Ford Raptor T1+
The new Ford Raptor T1+ will be driven by four teams of drivers and navigators, including rally drivers Carlos Sainz Sr. with navigator Lucas Cruz, and Nani Roma with navigator Alex Haro. Additional teams of drivers will be announced later this year.
“This is the kind of opportunity that comes once in a lifetime – to support Ford Performance as they head to Dakar with this new Ford Raptor T1+ is going to be an incredible adventure,” said Matt Wilson, M-Sport Director and Dakar Team Manager. “We have already completed 10,000 kilometers (6,213 miles) of testing in some of the harshest conditions we could find so we feel ready to take on this ultimate challenge starting at Baja Hungary next month.”
Key Features of the Ford Raptor T1+: Suspension of the Ford Raptor T1+
Competition Schedule: Ford Raptor driving through mud
Attendees of the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed can join Ford Performance for a closer look at the Ford Raptor T1+ at 11 a.m. on July 12, in the Ballroom Paddock.
Source: Ford Performance
Just after the start of the prologue of the 2023 Dakar Rally, Eduardo Iglesias broke both clavicles in a spectacular fall that sent him straight home. Once again, the world's toughest motor race dealt a severe blow to one of its steadfast riders.
We navigated with the Galician rider from that fateful moment, through his battle against his own fears, to his most immediate goals.
Eduardo arrived more prepared than ever for Dakar 2023: “I qualified very well in both the Hellas Rally in Greece and the Dinaric Rally in Croatia; and the 1000 Dunas had been great training.” But in the early stages of the prologue, Edu was forced to abandon the Dakar. A disastrous fall broke both his clavicles. Despite the moral blow and the physical pain being so present, Edu was clear about one thing. “When I was on the plane after breaking my clavicles, I already knew I had to return to the Dakar. I told my mother right after the operation, and she couldn't believe it. I knew this couldn't end like this. After finishing three editions, I didn't want this to be my story in the Dakar. It couldn't be. I had to fight to be at the start again.” He recalled with calmness: “The accident was a very hard moral blow, but I wanted to get back on the bike as soon as possible to recover from the psychological damage. After ten days, I was already going to the gym and shortly after, I was back on the bike.” But once again, reality hit hard. “In April, I went to train in Morocco with the idea of running the Sonora Rally, but even though my clavicles were healed, the psychological part was still missing. I wasn't ready, and it took me a lot to feel comfortable on the bike again.”
Returning to competition, he discovered that he still had a long way to go in his recovery: “I arrived at the Hellas in May 2023 and realized it. I had tremendous stage fright. It was a very rainy rally, so I was afraid of getting hurt in every stage, and even though I finished 1st in M2, I placed in the twenties overall. In September 2023, we did the Rally Adventure Galicia. I felt better, but on the first day, I had a very hard crash and thought I had broken my clavicles again.” Concluding, he said: “I spent the whole year fighting against my mind, and even feeling good, I was cutting the throttle.”
In January 2024, the moment of the ultimate test arrived. After a year of searching for good sensations, it was time for Eduardo Iglesias to face his ghosts, and with clear ideas, everything seemed to fall into place. “To go to the Dakar, you have to find a goal. After finishing it, you need to motivate yourself to train and be at the start again. If my goal for other editions had been to improve my position, for this 2024 edition, it was to remove the thorn and prove to myself that after a traumatic injury, because of how it happened, the Dakar couldn't finish me.” But the uncertainty was total: “I was in good physical shape, but I didn't know how I would respond psychologically in a race as tough as the Dakar and with last year's tragedy in my mind, you can imagine.” Even though he was making progress in the right direction, the harshness of this race imposed itself once again in the worst possible way. “The prologue was very tense… but once it was over, in the early stages, as complicated as they were, I started to feel good… until Carles' accident. It was another very hard psychological blow that hit us closely. Very difficult to take.” -Spanish rider Carles Falcón passed away days later as a result of the accident-.
Edu was determined to finish the Dakar but was still unaware of the harshness that was yet to come. “I encountered the toughest Dakar in recent years.” The 48-hour stage seemed to have left a mark on his memories that he hurried to recount: “At km 2, I was already stuck in soft sand; at km 3, on a huge dune with a terrifying descent, I overdid it with the throttle at the top, and the bike fell. I struggled a lot with the bike and the sand to continue; and at km 9, I found Zacchetti in a hole, and by looking at him, I got stuck too. We helped each other to get out, but all this happened before reaching km 10 of a 600 km stage. Imagine! We spent a good while pushing the bikes. At that moment, I must have been almost the last of the stage, but little by little, I caught up with other riders as I crossed incredible dunes with vertigo-inducing descents.” Aware of the harshness of the stage, Edu decided to recalculate his objectives to reach the bivouac at km 300: “At around three in the afternoon, I refueled, and with the mandatory twenty-minute stop, I left around twenty to four. With 100 km ahead, I thought I wouldn't make it to the bivouac at km 300, but I had to keep going even if I had to sleep in the dunes. With a good pace at first and suffering a lot, I reached the camp just as night fell.”
The second half of the 48-hour stage was still ahead, and the price for removing that thorn involved a degree of suffering previously unknown to him. “The next day, the first few kilometers were very tough, and around midday, with the sun overhead, the bike fell on me many times. I've never had to lift it so many times in my life.” Reaching such a physical extreme that: “I wished the bike would break so I could call the helicopter and go home. I think I never pushed my body to such a limit. I don't even know how to explain it: You can push yourself to the max on a gym machine, but it's not the same; it's a limit you can't control. It's a limit I had never experienced in any other Dakar. I had cried on other occasions, I had suffered a lot, but I didn't know that physical limit.” he affirmed with conviction.
Having finished Dakar 2024 and overcoming the trauma, Edu is now facing two races in the European championship. One in Galicia and another in Greece, with their ups and downs. “The Rally Adventure Galicia benefited me a lot. Without navigation errors or falls, I finished 1st in M2 with the 350cc, which was a great option for this rally; 5th in the national classification and 2nd in the European one, so I ended up very motivated for the Hellas Rally,” where he didn't feel as comfortable. “The type of tracks and trails in the Hellas were more suited for the 450cc than for my 350cc, with which I suffered more than usual. Besides, the level increased dramatically with many top Dakar riders, and even finishing 2nd in my category, I placed 22nd overall.” Edu lamented, concluding with a positive reflection on his performance in the European circuit: “But I'm happy. I've competed in two races in Croatia, three in Greece, two in Galicia… and I'm always at the top. I'm not one of the fastest riders, but I always manage to maintain a consistent average with few navigation errors, avoiding many troubles, and preserving the mechanics.” fundamental keys to achieving these endurance races.
Edu faces the rest of the year with the uncertainty of someone whose ultimate goal is the Dakar Rally. “I don't have confirmation for Dakar 2025. No matter how much intention we have, we ultimately depend on sponsors, so in these months, we'll have to make the final decision.” So his proposals include a continental championship: “I'll try to finish the European championship in August, in Romania, to fight for the title, which will also be another race towards the Dakar if we finally decide to go.” And another more domestic, albeit international in nature: “I will also run the Six Days in October, here in Galicia.” A race the Galician rider had already competed in 2009 in Portugal and now repeats at home with friends. “It's the Enduro Olympics. It's a race with a lot of international atmosphere, and being here, I had to be there. I will participate with Alejandro Vieitez and Giovanni Pérez, classifying for clubs in teams of three riders.” he said with the enthusiasm of someone competing at home.
As a true Dakar participant, Edu does not lose sight of his goal or the necessary tasks to achieve it, assuring that: “If I finally go to the Dakar, I will participate in the Addax Rally in November to be as well-prepared as possible.”
Source and photos: Pablo Pillado/Eduardo Iglesias
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As a service to the sport we all love and follow, Rally-Raid Network posts numerous media releases from a wide variety of sources on our website. Due to the large number, and some times short time available, it is nearly impossible to review each public release. These articles are written by reporters or press officers who work for various organizers, teams, drivers, riders, and other parties, and they do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Rally-Raid Network.