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Without many resources, Colombians will participate from this weekend in the most dangerous motor race on the planet in Saudi Arabia, marked by the health crisis due to the pandemic.
From this Saturday until January 15, the 43rd edition of the Dakar Rally will take place in Saudi Arabia, a competition accustomed to tragedies and difficult moments, but never to a pandemic, which held the event on hold until the last hour, due to the closure of borders announced a couple of weeks ago by the Saudi authorities after the detection of the new strain of COVID-19 from the United Kingdom. With the backlash of the virus, the most dangerous motor race on the planet will have the presence of four Colombians for the 7,500 kilometers of route starting and finishing in the city of Jeddah, on the shores of the Red Sea.
There are two Dakar: on one side are those who are running to win it and on the other are those who are fighting to finish it. The differential factor? Budget.
Colombians, belonging to the second group, are part of that selection of runners who come together to get ahead in the middle of a race made to surrender and press the red button, so it becomes rather a test of solidarity between them. On the sidelines, the counterpoint between the so-called meeting of the rich and of the poor.
Nicolás Robledo, who will run his fifth Dakar Rally, will be the main Colombian reference in the race aboard his ATV, only this time he will do it in a different category: 4 x 2 ATVs, in which there is greater speed and those who fight for the title run, since he always played 4 x 4 Quads competition. You have the opportunity to make a historic performance for the country.
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An Antioqueño who spent several years of his life waiting for a call to practice his profession as a commercial aircraft pilot. He never came and from job to job he decided to start his own event logistics company. Seven years ago they paid him a debt with an ATV, and that’s where it all began. From a frustrated airplane pilot he became a devoted ATV pilot.
“I’m going for the first time in a Quad 4 x 2 in which I thought to train all year. I have many pending lessons, I will have to try it in the race and adapt. I just want to finish this Dakar in a Quad that I don’t know ”Robledo pointed out.
And in buggies, a rather new category, there will be a Colombian duo: Javier Vélez and Mateo Moreno. The first will be the pilot and will run his first Dakar Rally, while the second already has four participations in the motorcycle category and will be his co-driver. You will have the task of interpreting the maps, indicating where the vehicle should travel and fixing it.
“In mid-2020 Javier called me and asked me to participate in the Dakar. How are we? Physically very bad, because Nicolás Robledo only eats ice cream and donuts … and I have stuck to all ice creams and donuts “Moreno joked. “We Colombians have helped each other a lot; We can no longer help Giordano, whatever he needs at a distance ”, he added.
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And is that Giordano Pacheco, who was going to run his third Dakar on his KTM 450 Replica motorcycle in the Originals category, where there is no technical assistance, which apologizes to the roots and purism of the Dakar, also to the lack of large structures, had to get off the competition at the last minute. The reason: coronavirus.
A very hard blow for him, because in November he suffered a serious accident that left him practically ruled out of the race, but he had a record and unprecedented recovery that had him ready to participate.
“I prepared myself all year for the Dakar. I also had an injury and I was able to take it, but unfortunately COVID-19 beat me and the organization did not give me the go-ahead to participate. I don’t know how I got it. And now I’m left out, in Arabia stranded, quarantined and lonely”Said Pacheco with great disappointment, who in the last edition had a historic performance for the country by finishing in the tenth box in Malles Motos, a category that does not have technical assistance.
The reality is that the most complicated Dakar that Colombians run is the one that happens behind the scenes: get the resources and sponsorship to run. A process that takes all year, due to the lack of support and little tradition in the country.
The fourth Colombian in the race – who also has a Chilean heart, the country in which he has lived for almost fifteen years – will be John trejos, mounted on a Husqvarna 450 motorcycle that will carry the number 120. This will be his second Dakar Rally, since in 2018 he was present, but withdrew due to a mechanical failure in the marathon stage in the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia.
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And in terms of the rich, the main news is the return of Frenchman Sébastien Loeb to contest his fifth Dakar. The nine-time world champion of rallies he will be at the wheel of a 4 x 4 prototype equipped with a nearly 400-horsepower V6 engine in Bahrain colors, having been second in 2017 and third in 2019. “We have to give thanks that at least we can run ”, are the sincere words of Nani Roma, winner in motorcycles (2004) and champion in cars in 2014, a category in which he also has two runners-up.
There will also be other common names, such as the Spanish Carlos Sainz (Mini), defender of the car title; Qatari Nasser Al Attiyah (Toyota) and Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel (Mini), the man who holds the record for victories (thirteen) in the Dakar.
On motorcycles, American Rick Brabec (Honda) defends the title against men like Australian Toby Price (Red Bull / KTM) and Chilean Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna).
Thus, in the midst of a social and health crisis due to questions about the violation of human rights and the problems with the pandemic, the Dakar starts in Saudi Arabia.
