After learning about COVID-19 from the co-pilot, Petrus found a new crew member: he would go with the Portuguese

The Petrus Kombucha team received a very unpleasant Christmas present. His teammate Povilas Valaitis’s COVID-19 test came back positive. The result was also confirmed by a new test, the results of which were produced on the afternoon of December 25, and the team had planned to start the trip to Saudi Arabia in the early morning of December 26, so the problem had to be resolved in the middle day.

The solution has been found: José Manuel Teixeira Marques will drive with Gintas Petrius to the new Optimus EVO3 in Dakar. The Portuguese record is impressive. Marques, who has been involved in motorsports since 2000, has competed in 138 rally marathons, from a wide range of Baja stages or competitions in Morocco and Libya to the Africa Eco Race, where he met Gints Petri.

In 2009, Marques also tested the Dakar Rally in Chile and Argentina. Over the past 10 years, Mr. Marques has driven extensively as a truck driver. Together with the crew of the renowned Portuguese driver Elisabeth Jacinto, he entered the TOP3 of Africa Eco Race trucks for several years, and in 2019 he won gold in this category (fifth place in the general classification).

“I have known them for a long time. He is a former officer who leaves the impression of a calm and solid man. If I reached his truck in Africa, I knew we really wouldn’t get lost. He really smells great.” They speak excellent English and French. , which will be very useful in communication with the MD Rallye Sport team, who promised to serve our buggy, “says G. Petrus about the future partner.

Mr. Marques certainly doesn’t forget the SUV job. He regularly participates in Baja rallies and in 2017-2020 he has won half a dozen gold from these stages of the race.

The Petrus Kombucha Team’s final agreement with Marques was reached in the early morning of December 26, when the Portuguese received a negative result in the covid-19 test. Peterus, along with the team’s mechanics, is currently traveling to Munich, from where he waits for a flight to the city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia for about 23 hours. It is in Munich that the new co-pilot will join his colleagues. There were no more organizers in the Lisbon charter, so Mr. Marques will fly from Portugal to Germany and arrive in Saudi Arabia with his new colleagues.

Petrus Kombucha Team is already the third Lithuanian team in which a co-driver from Portugal will help a Lithuanian rider to find the best roads in the next speed stages of the Dakar. Benedict Vanagas will start with Filipe Palmeiro for the second time, and Vaidotas Žala will race with Paulo Fiuza this year.