DAKAR 2021: LOURENÇO ROSA'S DAKAR ADVENTURE IS ALMOST STARTING

Lourenço Rosa will be one of the national names to be present in the edition of the Dakar Rally 2021, and will have beside him the navigator Joaquim Dias, forming the only team that will defend the Portuguese colors in the SSV Series T4 category. Already in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the starting point for this year's edition of the Dakar will take place according to various measures related to mitigating the risks associated with the current pandemic.
 
The pair supported by Enerre Pharma participated in the Baja Hail, an off-road race that took place two weeks ago also in Saudi Arabia, under conditions very similar to what they will find in the Dakar, even with a common route in some sectors, and this allowed the team to test in real conditions, preparing for the challenge ahead. Lourenço Rosa and Joaquim Dias tried to make the most of all the moments they had at Baja Hail, to gain experience by sharing data with other teams, more experienced in races with the characteristics of the Dakar and this Baja Hail, having even finished in the third position of the T4 category, a result that increased the confidence levels of the team.

Crewing a Can-Am Maverick built and prepared from scratch for this Dakar by the technical structure of South Racing, they are ready to start on the 2nd of January for the prologue, followed by twelve timed stages with the usual requirement and difficulty characteristic of the Dakar Rally, before the end scheduled for January 15th.
 
Lourenço Rosa says about his debut in the most emblematic motorsport event in the world that :

“since I started racing off-road, with my father Nuno Rosa, that the Dakar was a goal. This year the opportunity arose and here we are ready to make it a reality. It is very different to race in the Dakar in the face of the events we have in Portugal, a lot of sand, the challenge of the dunes and the length and hardness of the stages is something to be taken into account and to learn from, hoping that the adaptation will be as fast as possible. ”

“The adrenaline of the races is something that I like, the competition, the fight against the timer, and although I do it for fun when I run I am always trying to do my best and that is what we will also do in this Dakar, aware that the difficulties and the learning curve necessary to obtain results are usually long. I'm going with a lot of desire, and soon we'll see the result. "

“The main objective is to dignify the national colors in this tough as well as emblematic event, we want to obtain a good classification, we will help each other among all the teams, namely in the group of the remaining Portuguese who will be present in this Dakar, and I thank you in advance all the support that has been expressed to us in these days that preceded our coming to Saudi Arabia for this adventure. We are ready to give our best ”

 The Dakar Rally is the world's largest off-road competition and will take place this year in Saudi Arabia from the 2nd to the 15th of January.

Source Official press release