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 | Desafío Litoral: Symbolic start of the rally, 104 competitors at "Dakar Series".
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The symbolic start of the "Desafío Litoral" Rally was carried out with nice weather, great crowd and the Hito Tres Fronteras (Argentina-Paraguay-Brazil) and the beautiful environment of Puerto Iguazú background. The first edition of Dakar Series in Sudamerica will have 104 competitors fighting for glory.
The drivers were transported in the morning to the Nacional Park of Iguazú to take a grupal photo with the spectacular image of the Garganta del Diablo, principal icon of the Iguazú Falls, on background. The competitors had been fascinated in front of one of the seven natural marvels of the world, and had enjoyed this moment to take personal pictures to bring with them a good remember of the argentinean Litoral.
Later, at 2.00 pm, the 104 drivers gathered at the triple fronter, to realize a symbolic starting. A lot of people came close to the starting ramp at the heart of Puerto Iguazú for cheering the drivers, before the big adventure, new for all of them, starts.
The Ministry of Turism of Argentina, Enrique Meyer; the governor of the province of Misiones, Maurice Closs; the governor of Chaco, Jorge Capitanich; the mayor of Puerto Iguazú, Marcelo Sanchez and the mayor of Bella Vista, Nancy Sand Giorasi, were present during the start ceremony and, previously, at the Iguazú Falls.
The main favorites to obtain the triumph in the Moto and Cars category, gave their opinion just before the race start:
Cyril Despres: "I hope to be considered as one of the possible winners of this race because I had trained a lot for that and I have been rallying from many years. You feel pressure when you’re in the first place during the last days of a Dakar, but not here, this is called desire, desire to participate. Rally is always an adventure that you have to discover in places that you don’t know and I don’t have any idea of what I’m going to find here. My goal is to win".
Francisco "Chaleco" López: "We know what we can give, but our pressure will be put in Dakar 2013. We want to achieve those second positions again and be on the lead so as to give a tight fight with the best drivers of the world. Our sporting schedule starts today for the net Dakar. Out goal is to make as much kilometers as possible to get the rhythm and get to know Paulo. This is a new race, nobody knows the surfaces. I'm proud we have an international event".
Javier Pizzolito: "Very happy to come back to a competition after six months of no activity because of my accident. It makes me happy to do it in a Dakar Series, an International hierarchy event and with highly respected competitors. I have run three argentinian championships, this is my fourth one and we had never seen the red hills. I hope I can fight against Cyril Despres or reach the podium. Although I’m fairly inactive, races are races and I think that anything can happen".
Nani Roma: "We will have to se what are we going to face, because everything is unknown to as and we have to learn a little bit from the roads, alter a while you Stara adjusting yourself to the surfaces and as we’re having control over it we’re going to fight for a win. Our goal is to set the car for the next Dakar, do a good job and above all, go fast. If we do things at ease, we have chancves of doing a good race".
Tadeusz Blazusiak: "I’m here to have fun and gain experience. I came here because I want to do a different competition to learn other things about this sport. The most important thing is to be strong have a good time. Cross Rally is very different from the X Games, you don't flat out here because there are a lot of things to do. Surfaces are very different and the morotbike slips a lot if it is wet. Anyways, you always have to flat out no matter the surface".
Jakub Przyigonski:"It's very exciting to be in Puerto Iguazú, Misiones, in the Litoral for the Dakar Series. We're trained a lot so that's why we have great expectations to start and do a good job. It's not a pressure to be Argentinian, we're always trying to do our best and we work for that goal. The landscape is beautiful but we do not know surfaces. The racew is long, so we have to take it easy and not to underestimate it".
Orlando Terranova: "I'm very happy to be in Argentina, and in Iguazú where the competition starts. I'm going to try to have fun and move forward with the motorbike under different conditions that we will find in the jungle. There are very good drivers and I'm going to try to do the best I can, pero I'm on holidays so that's why I want to enjoy the competence, but I won't relax because a race is a race. The most important thing is to make it to the end. This is out first time in this area, and it will be a very nice race, for sure".
Day 1: The exuberant vegetation of the jungle of the province of Misiones and the contrast with the red soil will be the distinguishing attraction of the first stage. After the opening ceremony in the Three Frontiers Milestone, Monday 23rd will be disputed in two sections with neutralization between them.
During the first day, drivers will find a firm soil for a fast pace in most parts of the stage. But in both sections complications will lay on the changes of state in the roads. These changes go from very good to broken, from fast to twisty, and from dry to humid in a matter of a few meters, in several occasions.
Going through wild sections will be an adventure, but in terms of sport results, the most important factor will be related to the driving technique and a quick adjustment to unexpected changes of pace which drivers will be forced to adopt in this stage.
The thick vegetation of the area will present a particular scenario, which in some cases will literally "eat" the footprint of the path. That is why a key factor to achieve a good result in the opening stage will be to find the right pace.
Finally, humidity will have a key role even if there is no rain. The soil has different grips at different times of the day. A big variety of circumstances will make this first stage one of the most complicated ones all along the competition.
Total kilometers: 660,51
Special Stage kilometers: 402,25
Start time: 8:00
Arrival time to Bivouac: 16:00
2012/07/23 | 22:56 CET | ARTICLE: MR/HS/ASO
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