The race will take place between the 3rd and 10th of September in South Africa, in the mythical Kalahari Desert. The completion of the Kalahari Rally will guarantee eligibility for the premier event of the international off-road, the Dakar Rally.
This condition, combined with proximity, lead the group to consider this competition as the ideal challenge for the start of their campaign, says a statement sent to VerAngola.
The team already has several internationals in its history and since 2012 it has regularly participated in the Angolan Rally Raid Championship (CARR), having celebrated three times the title of national champion of the class in which it competes (SSV), and already obtained a second place. in a test of the world championship in Bajas in 2014.
For João Lota, pilot, and Nuno Santos, navigator, the Kalahari Rally will, above all, begin a "process of learning and adapting to this much longer and more demanding test model, for the best possible preparation for the Dakar Rally of 2024".
The pair will face some daily stages with distances over 900 kilometres, a condition that will require the permanent safeguarding of the vehicle's mechanics.
In addition to the long distances, they consider that the main challenge will be navigation, which is why they underwent intensive training during the month of July with Portuguese pilot Pedro Bianchi Prata, former assistant director of the official Honda team, ten times finalist for the Dakar Rally and placed fourth in the SSV category in 2020.
The team aims to complete the six days of competition without constraints and defends that the acquired learning will be the main objective that it intends to subtract from this challenge. As such, the approach will be, above all, cautious, adapting its pace of progress depending on the evolution of the race and taking advantage of any opportunity that allows for an outstanding final classification.
The Angola Rally Team is registered in the SXS category, with a CAN AM Maverick X3 vehicle and will have the assistance service of the South African team "MOTO-NETIX", winner of the second edition of the Kalahari Rally and South African champion of the whole land in 2019.
