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Dakar 2024: Goal achieved: Baumgart and Andreotti complete the Dakar in the elite group of cars
The Brazilian duo from X Rally finished the almost 7,900 kilometers of the most difficult rally on the planet in eighth place among the competitors entered in the World Championship; in the overall sum of times, the Brazilians finished in 13th place.
The first objective in the Dakar Rally is to finish the race, get to the end and climb the ramp to receive the medal given to all those who complete the world's toughest rally. And it doesn't matter what position you're in - just being on the final ramp is quite an achievement after two weeks and almost eight thousand kilometers.
The second objective is the final position. The Brazilian X Rally Team tried to work in stages and completed the race with driver Cristian Baumgart and navigator Beco Andreotti. It was the second time that the duo, four-time Sertões champions, have finished the Dakar in two attempts - they ended the 2019 edition in Peru in ninth place when they competed in the UTVs.
The Brazilians from X Rally finished the race in 13th place overall among the cars. In the T1+ category, the duo finished tenth, and in eighth place among those entered in the W2RC World Championship season. It was the team's first participation in the cars. With the Prodrive Hunter, both Cristian and Beco and Marcos Baumgart and Kleber Cincea showed excellent pace. Marcos and Kleber, however, were forced to abandon the rally on the seventh stage due to mechanical problems.
"It was a tough rally from start to finish. Very tiring, but it's an immense pleasure to be here on the ramp, because the main challenge is to finish. They say here that the easiest thing to do in the Dakar is to abandon," said Cristian Baumgart. "An elite grid, a very high level. We've gained more experience, not just for Beco and me, but for the team structure as a whole. We've come back stronger and we're going to keep going in the world championship. It was another dream come true," he continued.
The winningest duo in Brazilian rallying and one of the longest-lived in the world, Cristian Baumgart and Beco Andreotti's best position in Dakar 2024 was eighth place in the tenth stage. The navigator Andreotti repeats and emphasizes that, first, the goal is to finish the race; then, to try to climb positions in the ranking of the world's toughest rally.
"We completed the Dakar having achieved our initial objective, which was to finish in the top 15 of the elite group. What was even more gratifying was to have finished eighth overall among the teams competing in this year's World Cup," said Beco. "It was our first time in the cars, so we're very happy. It's been a huge learning experience and here we've been on all kinds of terrain. We've evolved a lot. It was very enjoyable, but also extremely tiring; it's a race that pushes you to the limit. It's a shame that Marcos and Kleber couldn't complete the race, for reasons beyond their reach, but we should be back next year," he concluded.
The X Rally Team's next commitment is just over a month away, with the second stage of the World Rally-Raid season: the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, from February 25 to March 2.
The X Rally Team is sponsored by Vedacit, Motul, BF Goodrich, Rodobens, Center Norte, Rock and Opaoma.
Automatic translation of the Brazilian Portuguese version available on www.todoterreno.pt
Source: X-Rally Team's official press release
Photo: DPPI Prodution
Helder