The 26th edition of the Paris-Dakar, starting on January 1, 2004, will be counting once again on the presence of the Repsol riders and drivers who will be on the starting podium of the most important raid of the world. Twenty-six years have passed since Thierry Sabine set-up the race for the first time, but the Dakar hasnt changed at all with regard to the demanding conditions and the sacrifice, as well as a touch of adventure, regardless of the passage of time and the technological progress.
These are with no doubt some of the aspects that keep the worldwide attractiveness of the race and that made Repsol YPF decide to face the challenge once again. It is obvious that times have changed, that the riders and drivers have a much bigger expertise and that mechanical aspects are much more trustworthy, even satellites help participants to cross the desert in a way they would have never dared to imagine. However, the Dakar is an unpredictable race, very hard, where the human factor counts more than in any other kind of race. In order to win you need to have the best material, and obviously drivers and riders with nerves of steel.
The Repsol KTM team counts on both factors and therefore its aim is no less than the victory in a race, which will represent a double challenge for the company. First of all, the purely sports aspect. In this sense, the class and sports career of Joan Nani Roma, Isidre Esteve and Marc Coma are a solid guarantee. And with no doubt, the technology that KTM has involved in its 660 single cylinder rally motorbikes as well.
Second and not less important is the evidence that a race such as the Dakar stands for toughness and the highest demand, and it is an excellent testing bench for Repsol lubricants and fuels. The Dakar is, as all fans know, the hardest test for drivers, riders and mechanics and requires the use of specific products to guarantee the highest reliability.
Thirty years of experience at races are the best guarantee for Repsol YPFs technical department, whose R&D centre has made good use of the experience gathered at previous editions of the raid, making the most suitable products available to the Repsol KTM members to allow the engines resist the deserts incredible temperature changes up to 30º C difference between day and night and, especially with regard to this edition, to stand the extraordinary toughness of several stages, which will recover the classical routes that turned the Dakar into a myth and with no doubt will be the key to the final result.
However, the presence of Repsol YPF, is not limited to the two-wheel class. The challenge increases reaching the three axles and 580 HP of the MAN truck driven by José Luis Criado, Jordi Juvanteny and Rafael Santiveri. The success achieved last year where they clinched the victory in the 6 x 6 class, turns this team into one of the most outstanding team among the participating truck teams. Their aim is to repeat the victory in their class and achieve a good result in the overall classification.
The participation of trucks is another distinctive feature of the Dakar. The word adventure is written in capital letters in several stages of this class, when they are driving at night, under the most difficult conditions, following those routes that bikes and cars have travelled through under the light of day. Considering these conditions, experience and the capability of not making any errors can mean a perfect day or getting stuck in a dune with an eleven thousand kilogram heavy vehicle. Far from the apparent comfort, driving a racing truck is something highly demanding that needs very special skills.
The 26th edition of the Paris-Dakar will be starting on January 1, 2004 in Clermont Ferrand, in the centre of France and will hold a special stage on January 3 in Castellón, just before heading for Africa where there will be stages held in Morocco, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso and Senegal. The race will finish on January 18 in Dakar, capital, after 11,090 kilometres.
