INDIA in F1

Tag: Andalucia Rally

  • Andalucia Rally 2021 begins today

    Andalucia Rally 2021 begins today

    Andalucia, 12 May 2021: Starting Wednesday morning, 200 vehicles and more than 300 competitors are expected to pass through administrative and technical checks for the Andalucía Rally 2021. And in order to ensure the on-track safety of this XXL size rally, the Andalusian authorities and the organisers have put in place an exceptional safety dispositive.

    The other particularity of this edition, is the astonishing proportion of rookie competitors present on the event. To make sure they make their debut in the best possible conditions a training and evaluation structure staffed by rally professionals has been set up via the Challenge Road to Dakar that has chosen the Andalucía Rally 2021 to show case this initiative.

    SAFETY FIRST

    So as to ensure the safety in the zones covered by the race for the increased number of vehicles entered (+100 % for the cars, + 40 % for the bikes), the Andalusía Rally have mobilised no less than 1100 local commissaires supervised by the Guardia Civil. Added to that are 200 members of the organisation, to give a ratio of organisers to competitors of almost 5 to 1. In addition no less than 5 helicopters will overfly the event: 2 from the police and 3 from the organisation. In the words of David Castera, “an exceptional safety dispositive.”

    After being the first event in the world to allow bike and quad competitors to test an airbag last October, the Andalucía Rally 2021 will be the first race after the Dakar to make this compulsory.

    Due to the Covid context, the race will be based entirely behind ‘closed doors’ at the magnificent El Rosalejo hacienda. A sanitary bubble has once again been created to protect both the population of Andalusia and the rally caravan. To access the bubble for the first time, all accredited participants will have to present a negative PCR test taken less than 72 hours before arriving. Contact between the competitors, organisers, and the media have been reduced to the strict minimum in respect of the conditions defined by the organisation. Throughout the rally an ‘anti-covid’ team will be responsible for ensuring that these rules are scrupulously respected.

    RALLY-RAID SCHOOL

    Put in place by ASO this year on the Andalucía Rally, the Challenge Road to Dakar rewards the best newcomer in the Moto/Quad Rally category and SSV-T4 as well as the Moto/Quad Enduro Cup. 43 rally bike/quad competitors will be trying to win an entry for the next edition of the Dakar while the 15 Enduro Cup entrants are in with a chance of winning an entry to the Rallye du Maroc 2021.

    As David Castera explains, with its new educational format, everybody is a winner: “We want to accompany the newcomers so that they debut their adventure under the best possible conditions. There are still too many rookies that under-estimate the Dakar. We will train competitors the use the Iritrack, the GPS and how to navigate. None other than Cyril Despres will advise them on how to tackle their first rally, guiding and advising them during the race. In addition, the forty or so bikes entered in the category will come under the scrutiny of physical trainer Xavier Feuillée, who looks after a number of top competitors such as Sébastien Ogier and Esteban Ocon. He will test their physical and psychological aptitude and produce a report giving the areas that need to be worked on. At the end of the Andalucía Rally 2021 those who have demonstrated a super level will be informed that for them it is OK (for the Dakar). Take the rest in seven months direct to Dakar will be considered unreasonable and they will be presented with two options. Either continue to progress and take part in the Rallye du Maroc 2021 or participate in a second training session of three days that will take place at the same time as the race to avoid them spending a bigger budget. At the end of one or other of these two options we will either allow them to take the start of the Dakar or refuse their entry. To say ‘no’ if necessary, will be doing them a favour.”

    To simply cross the final finish line of one of these rallies therefore no longer means an automatic entry to the Dakar, with the selection process now based on training and assessment. The new generation of the discipline will be able to count on the experience of Cyril Despres with his tally of five wins in 13 participations on bikes and 6 in cars.

    Cyril Despres: “I’m very honoured to be given this role. Safety in rally-raid is something very important to us all.”

    UNDER STARTERS ORDERS

    Before attacking the four stages to be run from 13 to 16 May for a total of 1473 kms, of which 1086 kms are timed (74%), the competitors must tackle a short 8 kms special. A Qualifying Special for the cars, the ten fastest choosing their start position for the first stage as stipulated by the FIA regulations. The times achieved on this special being added to competitors’ overall time. Super Special for the bikes, starting the next stage in order of the time posted. A coefficient of 4 will be applied to their times to discourage them from trying for a ‘strategic’ finish. No less than 27 nationalities will be represented on the start line. France will be the most represented nation (38%) ahead of the Spanish contingent (18%), with the Dutch at 7% and the Italians at 5. All however will be speaking the universal language of road book!

  • Lorenzo podium for Sherco TVS team; Santosh finishes 23rd

    Lorenzo podium for Sherco TVS team; Santosh finishes 23rd

    Andalucia, 10 October 2020: Consistently fast on these Spanish pistes and navigating superbly, overall victory on the Andalucía Rally 2020 went to the Argentinian Kevin Benavides (Monster Energy Honda Rally). Second (at 7’42) was Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy Yamaha Rally), a remarkable comeback for the Frenchman after his big Dakar crash.Just seconds behind him in third (at 7’54) was an impressive Spaniard Lorenzo Santolino (Sherco TVS Rally Factory), achieving his first major rally podium.

    Both the Indian rally riders, who took part in the rally finished the event. Hero’s CS Santosh finished a creditable 23rd while Harith Noah of Sherco TVS managed to complete the rally in 43rd place. Santosh’s teammate Joaquim Rodriques finished 11th.

    In the cars, the favorite going into this rally didn’t disappoint, with Nasser Al Attiyah (Toyota Gazoo Racing) taking a hard earned victory. Much to his surprise, Carlos Sainz (X-Raid Mini JCW) managed to get his 2-wheel drive buggy into second place 3’14 behind the winner, with Yazeed Al Rajhi (Overdrive) third at 10’31.

    Holding the overall lead since the start of this Andalucía Rally 2020, Kevin Benavides was the man on form here in Spain, aboard his Monster Energy Honda, and delighted to take this victory in the run up to the Dakar. Commented the Argentinian: “Obviously we haven’t been doing a lot of racing since the Dakar but I have been training hard and working with a sports psychologist to maximize my performance. I live near Salta and the tracks there aren’t dissimilar to what we discovered here in Andalusia so that helps. I didn’t really have a strategy I just took each day at a time. The bike went really well and the team did a great job.”

    If Kevin Benavides started this morning with a relatively comfortable margin, the same couldn’t be said for second placed man overall Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy Yamaha Rally). Indeed, at km 152 his challenger for the second step on the podium Lorenzo Santolino (Sherco TVS Rally) was 3 seconds in the virtual lead. Said Adrien at the finish line: “After my crash on the Dakar, for the first time in my career, I wondered if I really wanted to continue racing. I thought about it a lot and in the end I decided to continue for myself, for my personal satisfaction. That’s not to say I’m not grateful to my team and my sponsors, but it was an important shift in mentality for me. So, to come back here and prove to myself that I am capable of running at the top of the pack is a grand satisfaction. Many thanks to David Castera and his team for making this race possible.”

    In third place, taking his first podium racing against the cream of rally-raid riders, was the Spaniard Lorenzo Santolino (Sherco TVS Factory): “Yes, super happy to finish third here. Maybe, the fact that I am Spanish and we were racing on Spanish soil was good for me but it is nevertheless important for my confidence going into the Dakar. The team has been working hard to develop the bike and it went really well here, so many thanks to them.”

    Lorenzo Santolino in action on the final day. Photos by ODC

    Away from the podium there were noteworthy performances from the rookie Australian Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM Factory) who showed right from the start that he had the speed, by finishing ex aequo with teammate Toby Price on the Super Special, and that he’d made spectacular progress with the navigation by winning today’s last stage, just 7 seconds ahead of his countryman Toby Price. Special mention also to Monster Energy Yamaha Rally’s new recruit Ross Branch who won a special and was in the hunt overall until he ran into problems on yesterday’s stage. Clearly, he has the right pace and the right attitude to achieve great things. 

    In Rally 2 victory went to multi world enduro champion David Knight (HT Rally) ahead of Czech freestyler Libor Podmol with Camille Chapeliere (KTM Baines Motos) third. Commented the big bloke from the Isle of Man: “The main thing here for me was to finish the race to validate my 2021 Dakar entry, so that’s mission accomplished. To win the Rally 2 class is obviously a big bonus. Having done this rally I’m actually looking forward to the Dakar more than before I started it. It’s a really interesting sport and you learn something every day. Today for example, over the second part, I calmed down a little and really concentrated on the navigation to avoid any penalties and I actually rode much better. But for sure when I get to Dakar it will be an even bigger learning curve.” Finally, in the Road to Dakar challenge victory goes to the Spaniard Tosha Schareina (450 HVA) with David Knight’s world enduro championship victories making him ineligible for the category. Tosha also wins the Enduro Cup category ahead of the Frenchman Matthieu Doveze (KTM) and another Spaniard Ruben Saldaña Goñi, also riding a 450 HVA.

    In the quads victory goes to Jerôme Connart ahead of fellow Frenchman Alexandre Giroud with the Pole Kamil Wisniewski third.

    In the cars, Nasser Al Attiyah (Toyota Gazoo Racing) might have come here to prepare for the next Dakar, but consummate competitor that he is, he also came to win. Job done for the popular driver who adds this first Andalucía Rally 2020 to his already very impressive tally. Al Attiyah: “I’m so happy to win here. Thank you to Toyota Gazoo Racing, thank you to Overdrive, really this was an amazing race for us. Not easy because everybody coming here to win and show that they are ready for the next Dakar. Thanks to the organization, ODC Events for putting on this rally and also to the region, Andalusia. The landscape is so beautiful.”

    If Nasser Al Attiyah came here with high hopes, his rival Carlos Sainz (Mini X-Raid JCW), by his own admission, really wasn’t expecting to achieve much in his  ‘unsuitably’ big 2 wheel drive buggy, that he opted to race so as to continue to develop it for the next Dakar. Sainz: “It was a good decision to come here, even with the 2 wheel drive, to get kilometres in the car. I’m happy with the result. If, before the rally, you asked me if I could take second overall with this car I would reply to you that it would be difficult. Given the time the organisers had to put this race together it was successful and I congratulate everybody involved.”

    Despite the disappointment of going out of contention for victory after yesterday’s 10 minute time penalty, Yazeed Al Rajhi (Overdrive) was happy with his pace on the rally and even happier to be once again reunited with his co-driver Dirk Von Zitzewitz. Al Rajhi: “For sure I’m very happy. We enjoyed it and Dirk did a great job. It is very tricky driving here but we reached our target of having a good rhythm and good speed. Now we have the training to get ready for January.”

    Joaquim Rodriques of Hero Rally team finished 11th.

    In the T2 class for series, 4×4 Akira Miura (Land Cruiser Toyota AutoBody) wins in front of his teammate Ronald Basso with Cristina Giampaoli (4WD Jaton Racing).

    In T3 it is Mitch Guthrie (Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team) ahead of his teammate Kevin Hansen with Jean Luc Pisson third (Zephyr PH Sport).

    In the SSV T4 class, it is Aron Domzala (Monster Energy Can-Am) ahead of his teammate Gerard Farrés with the Portuguese driver Rui Carneiro (MMP Can-Am T4) third and winner of the Road to Dakar challenge. Aron Domzala: “We were really nervous on the last part. We had a good lead and I think we have a win. In two and a half years in the car with Maciej, we did a lot of strong results but this is our first win together, so a special race for us. First time with the Monster Energy Can-Am, a great car and a great team – a great combination.”