Kalahari Rally 2021: Angola Rally Team conquers 2nd place in the Kalahari Rally

The Angolan Rally Raid Angola Rally Team won on September 10, second place in the SXS category at the Kalahari Rally, the longest and most demanding Rally Raid race in Southern Africa. 
 
The Kalahari Rally, which is part of the "Road to Dakar" series of events, took place between September 3 and 10 in the Republic of South Africa, and covered more than 3600Km along the borders of Botswana and Namibia, where the competitors faced the dreaded red dunes of the Kalahari desert for 6 days. 
 
There were 68 teams from 7 countries (South Africa, Botswana, Netherlands, United States of America, Zambia, Portugal, and Angola), divided into 3 categories - Bikes, Cars, and SXS. 
 
According to João Lota, Driver, it was necessary to adopt a moderate pace and preserve the mechanics of the car, ensuring continuity in the race, so a stronger pace was only imposed in the last stage, in an attempt to guarantee a place on the podium.  
Nuno Santos, the navigator, assumes that the biggest difficulties they faced, besides the long distances covered, were the cold and the navigation, which required a very high level of concentration. 
 
These factors raised the rally's difficulty level, and forced half of the competitors to give up. 
 
The event ended dramatically for the Angolan team, after a mechanical problem in the last 10km of the race, which forced them to cross the finish line with only 3 wheels. 
The persistence guaranteed the 2nd place in the SXS category, 6th place in the general classification of the Cars and 1st place as an international competitor in the 4 wheels category, surpassing the objectives defined for this event. 
 
The next challenge will be to secure first place in the Angolan Rally Raid Championship, to be held on September 18 in the Municipality of Chipipa, Huambo province, and to continue the preparation process for the Dakar Rally in 2023. 
 
The return to Angola is scheduled for September 15, around 10:00 am.  
 
For this challenge, the team had the support of BIC Bank, Alpiconstrói, Sistec, MwangoBrain, Rijo Supplies, Rijo Studio and Novos Canais. 

Press release  Angola Rally Team