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Miércoles, 1 de enero 2025, 14:05
A partir del día 3 de enero de 2025 y hasta el viernes 17, el mundo del motor centrará sus miradas en lo que suceda en Arabia Saudí, entre las ciudades de Bisha y Shubaytah, salida y meta de la carrera off-road más dura del mundo: el Rally Dakar. La competición discurrirá por distintos tipos de terreno, tan diferentes como dunas y pistas rápidas plagadas de rocas, en un recorrido compuesto por aproximadamente 7.800 kilómetros, de los cuales 5.200 serán contra el cronómetro.
From January 3rd to Friday 17th, 2025, the motor world will focus on Saudi Arabia, between the cities of Bisha and Shubaytah, the start and finish of the world's toughest off-road race: the Dakar Rally. The competition will traverse various terrains, ranging from dunes to fast tracks filled with rocks, covering approximately 7,800 kilometers, of which 5,200 will be timed.
Although the Dakar has been held in the same country since 2020, the organization has varied the route each year. This edition, the Rally-Raid will feature 480 more timed kilometers compared to 2024, and most stages will exceed 500 kilometers, making each day a demanding challenge where drivers, co-drivers, and mechanics must give their best.
El equipo «The Dacia Sandriders» cuenta con absolutos especialistas en el Rally Dakar, como Nasser Al-Attiyah (cinco victorias absolutas en el Dakar en la categoría de coches y 20 participaciones), Cristina Gutiérrez (victoria en la categoría Challenger 2024 y ocho participaciones) y Sébastien Loeb (28 victorias de etapa y ocho participaciones). Sin embargo, ninguno de sus éxitos habría sido posible sin la ayuda de sus respectivos copilotos, que en esta edición son Edouard Boulanger, Pablo Moreno Huete y Fabian Lurquin, respectivamente. Desde el asiento de la derecha, ellos son los encargados de dar las instrucciones sobre la ruta a seguir en cada momento, contribuyen a resolver problemas mecánicos durante el recorrido y, en ocasiones, pueden llegar a ejercer de psicólogos cuando las cosas no salen bien, o durante los largos enlaces desde y hasta el campamento.
The team "The Dacia Sandriders" boasts absolute specialists in the Dakar Rally, such as Nasser Al-Attiyah (five overall victories in the Dakar car category and 20 participations), Cristina Gutiérrez (victory in the Challenger category 2024 and eight participations), and Sébastien Loeb (28 stage victories and eight participations). However, none of their successes would have been possible without the help of their respective co-drivers, who in this edition are Edouard Boulanger, Pablo Moreno Huete, and Fabian Lurquin, respectively. From the right seat, they are responsible for giving instructions on the route to follow at all times, helping to solve mechanical problems during the journey, and occasionally acting as psychologists when things go wrong, or during long links to and from the camp.
"Once again, the Dakar increases its toughness to make us face the most difficult edition... and we are already coming from a very demanding Dakar 2024," explains Moreno Huete, who debuts in the T1+ category alongside his good friend Cristina Gutiérrez, aboard the new Dacia Sandrider. "In this edition, the distance we have to cover has been increased, which will mean extra demands not only for the driver and co-driver but also for the car mechanically, both in terms of reliability and the increased chances of suffering problems on a longer route."
Although the Dakar is always uncertain and any moment can change the course of the race, there are two moments in the next edition's route marked in red: Sunday, January 5th, and Tuesday, January 7th. On the second day of the race, competitors will face the '48h Chrono', a long 965-kilometer timed section divided into two days, where driver and co-driver will have no technical assistance and will spend the night in the desert. Just two days later, those who have overcome the challenge will experience a 'classic' marathon stage, at the end of which they will not have the help of their mechanics.
"They have focused the first week on pushing us to the limit, with the 48-hour stage already on the second day of the race and the marathon just a couple of days later. It will be a way to see who can overcome such a challenge to stay alive in a second week where we will enter the Empty Quarter, where we will have dunes, dunes, and more dunes until the finish," explains Pablo.
Unlike a rally, where the route is known in advance, Dakar participants are unaware of what they will face until minutes before starting each stage. A couple of months before the event, the Dakar organization announces the route to be followed, providing only a few details about each day: start and finish locations of the stages, total kilometers, timed kilometers, and a brief comment on what awaits drivers and co-drivers each day, without going into details about the type of terrain or main obstacles of the sections.
These initial clues allow co-drivers to research the area online and get a rough idea of the zones they will pass through. "Obviously, you don't know what you'll encounter until you're there, but you can guess by looking at a map online from the first image they share," comments Pablo. Additionally, the experience that drivers and co-drivers already have from other Dakars in Saudi Arabia provides significant knowledge, even if the stages are different.
The first real data will be known in the briefing held by the organization the evening before each stage. These will be brief details that help competitors understand the type of route they face and allow teams to adjust the vehicle for the day in terms of setup, fuel, tires, and spares. On the race day, the co-driver will have access to the digital roadbook ten minutes before the start, a measure introduced in 2021 to prevent unauthorized inspections and cheating.
"Thanks to this decision by the organization, co-drivers no longer spend the night before the stage studying and marking the route. We also avoid anyone gaining unfair advantages. I believe this levels the playing field and allows us to focus on navigation, rest at the end of each day, and prepare for the next day," comments the expert co-driver.
Navigation will play a prominent role in the Dakar 2025, as during 45% of the route, cars will have a different path from motorcycles. This will prevent them from following the tracks of two-wheeled vehicles as is traditional, and the right or wrong choices in navigation will make the difference.
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