Three crews from the country set the best times both in the most popular category, the UTV, and in the Car category
The 5th edition of the SARR - South American Rally Race, Argentina's biggest off-road event, has officially begun in the same region where the Dakar Rally was held between 2009 and 2019. The race ends on February 10, with sections in the regions of Santiago Del Estero and Catamarca, also passing through the famous giant dunes of Fiambalá. With 39 representatives entered, Brazil got off to a good start in the competition, leading in the largest category, UTV, and in Cars.
Making his debut in the competition, Gabriel Varela (using a Can-Am Maverick X3 model) was the fastest among the UTVs in the prologue, the race against the clock that determines the starting order. Racing alongside experienced navigator Lourival Roldan, last year's SARR champion alongside one of Gabriel's brothers, Rodrigo Varela, the Brazilian duo secured first place.
"It's my first time doing an off-road race, riding through dunes, stretches of dry riverbed, among other challenges. We don't have this kind of race in Brazil, so I'll be relying on a very experienced navigator, who even won this race with my brother last year. I'm very optimistic about our potential," explained Gabriel.
In second place in the prologue among the UTVs was another Varela first-timer: Bruno, the current Brazilian Baja Rally champion, who is taking on the challenges of the SARR for the first time. Like his brother Gabriel, Bruno also has an experienced navigator: Ênio Bozzano Junior, who recently competed in the Dakar Rally alongside his older brother Rodrigo.
Brazilian representation - In the Cars category, Brazil also stood out with first place for the duo Sylvio de Barros Neto and Ramon Oliveira Sacilotti. Brazil has 39 representatives, with 15 national teams in the UTV category and one mixed team made up of Brazilian André Hort and French navigator Adrien Metge. In Cars, the country is represented by two teams, both with cars prepared by the Rio de Janeiro Stock Car team R.Mattheis. In motorcycles, Brazil has four riders, including a woman, Moara Sacilotti.
SARR 2024 will be 3,352 km long and divided into eight stages, with a rest day and a marathon stage. The event will be the opening stage of the International Motorcycling Federation's South American Rally Raid Championship for motorcycles and UTVs, as well as being part of the Sertões Series, a tournament that will be held again this year and will have a total of four stages, two of them in Argentina.
Automatic translation of the original Brazilian Portuguese version
Source: BestPR
Photo: Sanderson Pereira
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