DAKAR 2009, the toughest and most famous raid in the world, which this time changes its scenery from Africa to South America, will feature a Lanzarote native in the truck competition for the first time.
Photos: Sergio Betancort
Isidro Viñoly is a young driver with experience in the world of motorsports from a very young age, starting as a driver in rally sprints, and professionally as a mechanic and builder of raid and adventure car prototypes. He has participated in numerous 4x4 trials both in Lanzarote and on the different islands, winning on more than one occasion. He has participated in national and international events such as SAHARA AVENTURA and RAINFOREST in Portugal, where he performed exceptionally.
As a mechanic, he is in charge of providing assistance to José Manuel Galán's team from Conejero, who has participated in the Dakar on several occasions and where last year they were left wanting in Lisbon after passing the verifications and the Lisbon Dakar being suspended due to terrorist threats. This year, Isidro will enjoy new experiences after being registered as assistance within the Guardia Civil Rally Raid team, to which Galán belongs and who will not be able to attend this year due to lack of budget.
Eduardo Campoy and Isidro Viñoly will team up with José Manuel Salinero and participate with a competition truck in the T4 category, a Mercedes Benz 2635 6x6 with 450 HP, a crew with great experience in the world of competition and 4x4 who will debut in the truck category.
Both competition vehicles will be assisted by a Mercedes Benz 2644 6x6 assistance truck where they transport the spare parts and act as a mobile workshop.
Isidro Viñoly faces this edition of the DAKAR ARGENTINA - CHILE 2009 with great enthusiasm, in which he has been preparing thoroughly in recent months in the navigation tasks that will be his first mission in this test as navigator or co-driver of Eduardo Campoy, a test that this year is going to be all new and that brings with it new challenges, in Argentina and Chile the toughest raid in the world recovers its most Dakarian essence.
The Pampa, the plains of Patagonia, the passage through the Andes Mountains, the Atacama Desert, but also the austral summer and the altitude.
The DAKAR ARGENTINA - CHILE 2009 starts on Saturday, January 3rd until Saturday, January 17th, with a rest day on Saturday the 10th in Valparaíso, there are 14 stages and about 10,000 km of route, of which about 5,652 will be of timed special, in the most novel and adventurous edition of all those known, with departure and arrival in Buenos Aires.
In this year's DAKAR everything is going to be new, after leaving from Buenos Aires the first two stages will serve the Dakar caravan to acclimatize to the new conditions of this test. They must do it quickly, since on the third day of competition the first selective will arrive with the entry into Patagonia and its 616 kilometers to start getting their act together with navigation. In the fifth stage they will find typically Dakarian images with a sea of dunes that will give way to a gentle descent of the Andes in the sixth stage. The Chilean stages will be decisive with the queen stage in its tenth stage with a route of 670 km in the heart of Atacama and in the middle of the austral summer, from there the hardness will drop slightly to give way to the fastest and least technical routes, to enter the penultimate stage of 545 kilometers between La Rioja and Córdoba, the last effort for the arrival in Buenos Aires on January 18.
DAKAR ARGENTINA CHILE 2009 has a participation of 235 registered in motorcycles, about 27 registered in Quads, in the car category there are about 194 vehicles that will take the start and 84 trucks.
A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY
Isidro Viñoly is very excited to participate in the toughest and most famous event in the world, he has been preparing thoroughly for the competition itself for a few months, both physically and studying the handling of the G.P.S. and TERRATRIP for the navigation of this adventure raid.
"It is a unique opportunity that presents itself in my sporting career, it is a great illusion, we are going with the objective of being able to finish and to help as much as possible the team of José Manuel Salinero, and despite being a very hard rally it is new for everyone and we can have the same possibilities, I find Argentina and Chile very interesting, and we hope to finish this DAKAR successfully." Says the Canary Islander Isidro Viñoly.
Isidro Viñoly will wear the nº 584 on the Mercedes Benz truck and the Nissan prototype of José Manuel Salinero the nº 374 in the DAKAR ARGENTINA CHILE 2009, and for all the followers who want to follow the test they can do it through the Dakar website and with more information about the team at www.guardiacivilrallyraid.com and www.lanzaventura.es
The Guardia Civil Rally Raid team has the support of companies such as: Quickmotor, Cardauto S. L, Grupo Total, Cover, Technograss, Ramiro Jaquete, Sercore, Sortimo, Hella, Roncato and Ayt de Daganzo.
