Barcelona hosts presentation of Spain’s Dakar Rally team

Barcelona I will host the next December 1st of Spanish team presentation Who will be participating? 46th Dakar Rally, It will be held in Saudi Arabia from January 5th to 19th, 2024. The event, which will be held at 6pm in Port Vell’s Plaza Rosa dels Venz, will be open to the public and will serve as a farewell to the participants of this legendary test before departing for Saudi Arabia with the rest of the team. Arabia.

In fact, those involved in the contest, It will be installed in Forum Park from November 30th to December 2nd., the space chosen by the race organization to perform technical and administrative validation of over 800 vehicles, including race, auxiliary, press and organization vehicles. Under the initiative “Barcelona Lives Dakar”, access to this area will remain closed from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm on the first day of December 1st and 2nd, but citizens will be able to use this space to carry out organizational tasks. You can think about it and see how it works. The teams participating in the Dakar have passed verification.

The Technology Validation Day and December 1st event will be an opportunity for the public. Take a first-hand look at the cars competing in the Dakar Prior to embarkation, this work will be carried out in the Port of Barcelona in early December and will involve transporting all vehicles on two ships bound for Saudi Arabia. The selection of the Catalan capital for transport logistics to Saudi Arabia is one of the major novelties of this year. This is because the capital was usually located in the port of Marseille, where this business was concentrated.

E-sports councilor, David Escudoemphasized that with this initiative, “we hope that the public will be able to see rally vehicles from the front lines and participate in this great global sporting event.” This should be a civic festival where everyone who wants to come to Forum Park and Port Vell can see how the drivers are preparing for this big challenge like the Dakar. ”

President of the Port of Barcelona, Luis Salvadohighlighted the role that the Port of Barcelona, ​​its port community and its infrastructure, combined with the attractiveness of the city of Barcelona, ​​play in attracting sporting events of international influence. “Just as the space in Porto de Barcelona convinced the organizers of the Copa America, so for the organizers of the Dakar, the facilities and operators of Porto de Barcelona were a big deal in terms of transporting all the players to Saudi Arabia. It has proven to be the best option, next year at Barcelona.”

Race director from Dakar, david castellaunderlines the dedication and excellent results of the Spanish pilots in the test, saying: “They will once again constitute the second largest nationality in terms of countries of origin of the competitors of this Dakar 2024, with a total of 119 “There will be other pilots participating.” “Perhaps in a few weeks we will be joining all levels of the class, with great champions and fans passionate about the desert.” “The possibility of organizing the loading of vehicles at the Port of Barcelona is a way to make a gesture ” This city welcomed the departure of the brigade to Senegal in 2005. The past is often in dialogue with the present and the future,” Castella added.

The hosting of the Dakar Rally in Barcelona marks a new milestone in a relationship that began in 1989, when the first stage of the rally started in Paris and ended in the Catalan capital. An old beach in the Free Trade Zone hosted a show-off stage before vehicles boarded for Tunisia and headed to Senegal’s capital, Dakar. In 2005, Barcelona once again wrote its name in the history of the event by becoming the starting point, beginning and ending of the first stage across Catalonia. On that occasion, instead of starting from Barcelona, ​​the expedition continued on the ground until the second stage, ending in Granada.