OVERDRIVE RACING MOUNTS FOUR-CAR CHALLENGE FOR HONOURS IN INAUGURAL DUBAI INTERNATIONAL BAJA

· Al-Attiyah, Domzala, Van Loon and Chabot to drive quartet of Toyota Hiluxes 

Overdrive Racing will field an impressive four-car line-up of Toyota Hiluxes at this weekend’s inaugural Dubai International Baja, the second round of the 2017 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies. The event takes place on March 9-11.

 The first of three Middle Eastern events in the gruelling off-road calendar has attracted many of Overdrive Racing’s leading rivals and the Belgian team’s hopes of winning the new event rest on the shoulders of Qatar’s defending series champion, Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah, recent Baja Russia winner Aron Domzala, Dutchman Erik Van Loon and Frenchman Ronan Chabot.

 Overdrive Racing dominated last year’s FIA World Cup: Al-Attiyah and his regular French navigator Matthieu Baumel claimed the title with an event to spare after taking a staggering six successive outright victories in Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Spain, Italy, Poland and Morocco. After missing out on Dakar success following an early accident, the Qatari returns to action fresh and determined to continue his remarkable run of form with the Toyota in the FIA World Cup.

  “This is a new event in the championship and my first cross-country rally of the season since the Dakar,” said Al-Attiyah. “I have a good record on the Middle East events and always feel at home in the desert. The shorter Baja format means we will have to avoid any mistakes. But pushing for the win is the obvious goal.”

 Domzala and his fellow Polish navigator Szymon Gospodarczyk are the early leaders of the championship after claiming a stunning victory for Overdrive Racing in the snowy wastelands of the Republic of Karelia in north-western Russia last Sunday. Domzala finished 11th overall in last year’s Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and will find the heat and dust of the Al-Qudra Desert a far cry from the sub-zero temperatures and icy stage surfaces he faced last week.

 The Dutch duo of Erik Van Loon and Wouter Rosegaar finished 14th overall in this year’s Dakar Rally with Overdrive Racing after setting the sixth quickest time on the final stage. Van Loon, who runs an expanding meat packing company in his native Holland, has been a regular on rounds of the FIA World Cup for several seasons. He finished second overall at the 2015 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and fourth at the Dakar the same year, the result marking a best ever finish for a Dutchman in the history of the event.

The fourth Toyota is crewed by the French pairing of Ronan Chabot and Gilles Pillot. The crew were sidelined from this year’s Dakar Rally by engine issues and are keen to get their FIA World Cup campaign off to a points-scoring start in the United Arab Emirates.

“We started the championship last weekend with a victory and everyone is happy with that,” said Overdrive Racing’s CEO Jean-Marc Fortin. “Aron (Domzala) is a good hope for the future. He is a young, talented driver. He is a new diamond that we need to polish, but he has made the perfect start. 

“Nasser is back in the game after his small Dakar. We are starting another campaign with him and we hope to deliver a second successive world title. Erik (Van Loon) has announced a small programme of four rallies in Dubai, Qatar, Kazakhstan and Spain and may announce more rallies later on. He is a strong driver and ideally suited to doing well in the FIA World Cup. Ronan (Chabot) retired on Dakar and we need to get him back in the game, with kilometres under his belt for his sponsor. It’s been a rush to get all the cars ready after they arrived back into Europe from the Dakar, but everyone is looking forward to a few challenging weeks ahead.”

The Dubai International Baja was created by the Automobile and Touring Club of the United Arab Emirates (ATCUAE) out of the ashes of the Dubai International Rally, which had been the traditional final round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship since 1984.

The revised event ran in a one-day candidate format last December and was observed by FIA officials for potential inclusion in the 2017 FIA World Cup. Race officials also run the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and expanded the format of the Baja when it was accepted into the championship calendar.

Based at the Bab Al-Shams Arena, the competitive action gets underway with two selective sections on Friday, March 10 and a single stage through the Al-Qudra section of the Arabian Desert on Saturday, March 11.

Overdrive Racing starters

301. Aron Domzala (POL)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL) Toyota Hilux Overdrive
302. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Matthieu Baumel (FRA) Toyota Hilux Overdrive
306. Erik Van Loon (NED)/Wouter Rosegaar (NED) Toyota Hilux Overdrive
307. Ronan Chabot (FRA)/Gilles Pillot (FRA) Toyota Hilux Overdrive

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Taça Yamaha YXZ 1000R arranca no Sábado em Góis

É já no próximo Sábado, dia 3 de março, que arranca, na Vila de Góis, Distrito de Coimbra, mais uma temporada do campeonato Nacional de Todo-o-Terreno. Com ela estreia-se uma Taça promovida pela YAMAHA Motor Portugal e dedicada ao modelo YXZ 1000R, um SSV de alto desempenho especialmente desenhado para as situações extremas de competição.

 Numa altura em que a adesão à classe SSV está ao rubro e depois de Stephane Peterhansel ter recentemente afirmado que em Portugal se disputa o melhor campeonato de todo-o-terreno da Europa, são já mais de uma dezena os pilotos que se inscreveram na TAÇA YXZ 1000R, competição que vai decorrer em paralelo com as 7 provas do campeonato nacional de TT. Uma competição aberta a veículos Open e Stock, em função do seu grau de preparação.

 Do ponto de vista desportivo destaque, entre os inscritos na 24ª edição do Raid Paraíso Todo-Terreno, para Ricardo Carvalho, piloto que em 2016 conquistou 3 vitórias aos comandos de um Yamaha YXZ 1000R e para o seu parceiro de formação, Nuno Tavares, ex-campeão nacional.

 Na prova organizada pelo Góis Moto Clube estará também Marco Silva, o piloto que na sua estreia nesta disciplina venceu na Baja Portalegre 500 de 2016. Entre os pilotos Yamaha referência especial também para o casal António e Dorothee Ferreira, cada um a competir com o seu Yamaha YXZ 1000R e que são mais dois nomes fortes para temporada de 2017.

 Com um projeto que vai para muito para além da participação desportiva dos seus pilotos, a Franco Sport inscreve Mário Franco e Tânia Diogo, um outro par de pilotos casados, mas a competir separadamente.

 Esta lista completa-se com os repetentes Mauro Silva e António Resina de Carvalho, pilotos a quem se juntam os estreantes Marco Pereira, Ricardo Domingues, José Manescas, Fernando Pinheiro e Luis Vaz.

 O Raid Paraíso Todo-Terreno começa com verificações técnicas e documentais junto à sede do Góis Moto Clube, na Quinta do Baião, em Góis. Da parte da tarde disputa-se um prólogo com cerca de 16,2 Km. No dia seguinte os concorrentes irão enfrentar uma dupla passagem por dois troços cronometrados respetivamente com 48 e 46 km, perfazendo um total de 204,2 Km.

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THE PEUGEOT DKR TO TARGET MORE SILK WAY RALLY GLORY

• PEUGEOT Total’s Dream Team is to follow up its landmark one-two-three success on January’s Dakar with an entry of three factory PEUGEOT DKRs for the 2017 Silk Way Rally (SWR) on July 7-22. PEUGEOT SPORT has confirmed that these cars will be in the hands of DESPRES, LOEB and PETERHANSEL.

• After winning the 2016 Silk Way Rally, Team PEUGEOT Total will be out to provide further evidence of the strength and competitive potential of the two-wheel drive PEUGEOT DKR.

• The event will take the three PEUGEOT DKRs from Moscow’s Red Square in Russia to Xi’an, China, via the Kazakh Steppe and the Mongolian desert on an extreme adventure to back the international offensive of PEUGEOT’s SUV range which is enjoying significant success in Europe and China.

QUOTE, UNQUOTE…

Bruno FAMIN (Director, PEUGEOT SPORT) “The 2017 Silk Way Rally will provide PEUGEOT SPORT with another opportunity to showcase its competitiveness in the world of cross-country rallying. Team PEUGEOT TOTAL is targeting another win on this event which has forged a reputation for being long and gruelling and this year’s rally is likely to be no exception. The terrain it covers, its slot in the calendar and its format make it an exciting challenge for PEUGEOT SPORT, while Russia and China are both very important markets for PEUGEOT.”

Jean Philippe IMPARATO (CEO, PEUGEOT Brand) “PEUGEOT sees the Silk Way Rally as a means to showcase its knowhow and expertise with an entry spearheaded by three highly talented French drivers, namely Stéphane PETERHANSEL, Sébastien LOEB and Cyril DESPRES. We have already demonstrated the performance and reliability of PEUGEOT’s road cars and competition cars and I am convinced that Team PEUGEOT TOTAL will rise successfully to this new challenge thanks to the team spirit that helped it to earn such a successful record.”

Frédéric LEQUIEN (Director, Silk Way Rally) “As organisers, we are extremely proud and honoured to have one of the world’s best-known brands and one of cross-country rallying’s most successful teams contesting our event. All three PEUGEOT crews boast exceptional records and they are all genuine personalities. The 2017 Silk Way Rally promises to be a magnificent, spectacular but also challenging event, with a nicely-balanced itinerary, a wide variety of terrains and a new finish venue this time in Xi’an. We have attracted some major media broadcasting partnerships which will help to promote the Silk Way Rally’s reputation and coverage.”

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QMMF TO RUN COUNTING ROUND OF NATIONAL BAJA SERIES IN CONJUNCTION WITH FIA WORLD CUP EVENT

· Argentinean Erick Nevels appointed Clerk of the Course for motorcycle section 

· Aron Domzala takes early FIA World Cup lead after winning Baja Russia round 

Officials at the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) have confirmed that they will host a counting round of the Qatar National Baja Championship in conjunction with the Qatar Cross-Country Rally, round four of the FIA Cross-Country Rally World Cup and round two of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship, on April 17-22.

 QMMF President Abdulrahman Al-Mannai confirmed that the first part of legs two, three, four and five will count towards the domestic off-road series and the classification of each day will be determined on results registered at a passage control after around 150km of each leg.

  “Qatar National Baja competitors may continue the race after the passage control and be registered for the overall standings in the main Qatar Cross-Country Rally,” said Al-Mannai. “This will not affect the results at the passage control.”

 The 2017 Qatar National Baja will be open to cars in FIA group T1, T2 and T3 as well as the National T3 category for desert buggies complying with technical regulations published as an appendix to the supplementary regulations. National T3 category vehicles may also be transported along road sections and teams will benefit from reduced entry fees.

 Meanwhile, staff at the QMMF have now published the official Rally Guide and are finalising the regulations for the FIM motorcycle and quad section of the international event.

 Erick Nevels has been appointed as Clerk of the Course for the first time and will work alongside FIM Technical Delegate Izak Santej and under FIM Jury President Jean-Francois Wulveriqk. Nevels hails from Argentina and has vast experience of cross-country rallying, having worked on events such as the Dakar Rally in South America on several occasions.

 The Polish Overdrive Racing duo of Aron Domzala and Szymon Gospodarczyk claimed victory in last weekend’s Baja Russia Northern Forest Rally, the opening round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies, through the remote snowy wastelands of the Karelia region of northwestern Russia. They hold an early lead over Czech driver Miroslav Zapletal and Slovakian navigator Marek Sykora in the points’ standings.

 The closing date for entries at reduced rates for the Qatar Cross-Country Rally is Monday, March 6, with the final cut-off planned for Monday, March 27.

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OVERDRIVE RACING’S ARON DOMZALA SNATCHES FIA WORLD CUP LEAD WITH VICTORY IN BAJA RUSSIA

Overdrive Racing’s Aron Domzala made the perfect start to his challenge for honours in this year’s FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies by claiming outright victory in the Baja Russia Northern Forest Rally, round one of the series across the icy wastelands of Karelia, north-western Russia.

Domzala and his fellow Polish navigator Szymon Gospodarczyk survived a dramatic final day of action on the treacherous special stages, which saw overnight leader and former FIA World Cup winner Vladimir Vasilyev crash out of contention 100km from the finish line and fellow Russian Andrey Novikov excluded from the provisional results for running a car that exceeded the wheel suspension travel permitted in the FIA regulations.

 Both incidents benefited the Polish duo in their Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux and Domzala eventually finished 5min 24sec ahead of the Czech driver Miroslav Zapletal, despite clouting a rock and sustaining two flat tyres on the final stage.

“What a great result for us,” said Domzala. “The stage today was very nice and we had a super pace for 100km. It was really perfect. We caught Vladimir Vasilyev and he was 20 metres in front of us and we drove like that for two kilometres. Then, we hit a rock in the middle of the road and we got two punctures. So, we stopped, changed two wheels and started going again. We saw he had a roll, we stopped with him and tried to help and, after a couple of kilometres, we caught Andrey Novikov. Unfortunately, we could not get passed and had to run 20 centimetres behind his back for five kilometres. We had to stop for a minute or two as well because of the snow dust, but the result went our way in the end.”

“This result is a fantastic start to the FIA World Cup for Aron Domzala and Overdrive Racing,” said a delighted Jean-Marc Fortin, CEO of Overdrive Racing. “This is not an easy event at all and extreme weather conditions are always a factor, but it’s a perfect way for our team to get the new season of FIA World Cup events off the ground.”

Domzala had won the opening Prologue stage on Friday night in a time of 4min 12sec and been in contention for the win from the start of the selective section action on Saturday morning, despite fierce local competition. O

verdrive Racing now switches its attentions to three back-to-back rounds of the series in the Middle East, starting with the new Dubai International Baja, in mid-March.

2017 Baja Russia Northern Forest Rally – final results

1. Aron Domzala (ESP)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL) Toyota Hilux Overdrive 4hr 33min 14sec
2. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Marek Sykora (SVK) H3 Evo VII 4hr 38min 38sec
3. Viktor Khoroshavtsev (RUS)/Anton Nikolaev (RUS) BMW X3 4hr 44min 49sec
4. Vladimir Frolov (RUS)/Alexsey Shaposhnikov (RUS) Nissan Pick-Up 5hr 07min 11sec
5. Vladimir Vasilyev (RUS)/Konstantin Zhiltsov (RUS) BMW X3 5hr 25min 50sec
6. Alexsey Titov (RUS)/Andrey Rusov (RUS) Ford F150 5hr 50min 05sec
7. Yasir Saeidan (SAU)/Laurent Lichtleuchter (FRA) Toyota LC200 6hr 33min 53sec
8. Shamyrat Gurbanov (TKM)/Gurbunberdi Danatarov (TKM) Nissan Patrol 7hr 35min 22sec

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Franco Sport apresenta projeto desportivo para 2017

Dois Yamaha, um BMW e muitas novidades 

Depois de uma temporada de 2016 onde a Franco Sport participou no Campeonato Nacional de Todo-o-Terreno e no Troféu CanAm Maverick, a formação liderada por Mário Franco apresenta agora o seu projeto desportivo para 2017.

 Um projeto que envolve a partir de agora uma estrutura com diversas valências que vão do aluguer à assistência, passando pelo envolvimento desportivo, focado desta vez no CNTT e na nova Taça Yamaha YXZ 1000R já que a aposta da Franco Sport para 2017 passa pela utilização das novas máquinas do construtor japonês cujo primeiro exemplar Mário Franco teve o privilégio de estrear na 30ª edição da Baja Portalegre 500.

 Em 2017 Mário Franco será navegado por Luís Engeitado que passa a ser também um dos membros permanentes da estrutura de competição que tem como diretor desporto Ricardo Batista. Num outro Yamaha YXZ 1000R SE Tânia Diogo, acompanhada de Tiago Vieira, irá disputar também a Taça de Senhoras do CNTT, enquanto a equipa promete para breve novidades relativamente a novos pilotos que farão parte da equipa em 2017.

 A Franco Sport estará em 2017 também no CNTT Auto, com a Scuderia Goldentrans DURA a trabalhar agora em conjunto com a Franco Sport nessa competição, com a dupla Alexandre Franco / Rui Franco a ser presença confirmada na competição com um BMW Série 1 Proto, máquina que na temporada 2014 contribuiu para o título de campeão nacional alcançado por Ricardo Porém.

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QMMF ANNOUNCES NEW FORMAT AND CHALLENGING ROUTE FOR 2017 QATAR CROSS-COUNTRY RALLY

· Entries now open for Qatar’s FIA and FIM World Championship counting round 

· Organisers announce new super special stage will kick-start event in Doha area 

Officials at the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) are currently finalising the route for this year’s renamed Qatar Cross-Country Rally, round four of the FIA Cross-Country Rally World Cup and round two of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship. They also announced that the revised five-day event would take place on April 17-22.

 Traditionally one of the most demanding rounds of both cross-country championships, in terms of tricky navigation and intricate tracks and sand trails, this year’s event has been shortened from five selective sections to four and features a number of exciting innovations.

  “We have fine tuned the route and the format for the Sealine event, based on feedback and our intuition,” said QMMF President Abdulrahman Al-Mannai. “We have reduced the number of long selective sections from five to four and reduced the actual competitive distance to around 1,380km from 1,635km. The rally will also cover a larger geographical area on this occasion and we will have less stony sections.” 

Rally headquarters and the media centre will be based at the Losail international circuit for a second year. The timetable has been modified slightly and administration checks and pre-event scrutineering will now take place at Losail, to the north of Doha, on Monday, April 17.

 After a drivers’ briefing and the pre-event press conference, competitors will tackle a new super special stage in the Doha area on Tuesday, April 18. The first of four selective sections through the desert gets underway on April 19 and is followed by three further sections on April 20, April 21 and April 22 - each of around 350km.

 The fourth stage on April 21 will take place entirely in the north of the country for the first time, while two of the stages will finish in the dunes around the former bivouac location at Sealine, south of Doha. The fourth stage will start in the same area.

 Portugal’s Pedro Almeida will continue to work as Clerk of the Course for the FIA event, with Rashed Al-Sulaiti acting as his deputy and Frenchman Franck Vayssié appointed as the new Rally Director.

 The former Sealine event developed from the Qatar International Baja that ran as a candidate event for the FIA World Cup in 2011 and was won by Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah at the wheel of a SAM Mercedes 35CC. Australia’s Justin Taylor and local rider Adel Hussein Abdulla won the motorcycle and quad categories.

 The event is now entering its sixth season as a round of both the FIA and FIM World Championships. Al-Attiyah claimed further wins in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016 in Toyotas and Minis and two-time Dakar winner Jean-Louis Schlesser was victorious in 2013.

 Five-time Dakar winner Marc Coma dominated the motorcycle category with his KTM in 2012, 2013 and 2015, with Spaniard Joan-Barreda Bort winning in 2014 and recent Dakar winner Sam Sunderland claiming another win for KTM last year.

Poland’s Rafal Sonik won the quad event on a Honda TRX 700 in 2012, 2013 and 2015, although Qatar’s Mohammed Abu Issa was victorious in 2014 and Chile’s Ignacio Casale claimed the win in 2016.

The closing date for entries at reduced rates is Monday, March 6, with the final cut-off planned for Monday, March 27.

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Ricardo Carvalho e Nuno Tavares juntos na defesa das cores da YAMAHA no Campeonato Nacional Todo-o-Terreno SSV 2017

Naquela que promete ser uma dupla de peso no Campeonato Nacional Todo-o-Terreno em SSV (ex UTV/Buggy), o 3º Classificado de 2016 e o Campeão Nacional da especialidade em 2013, juntam-se nesta YAMAHA Supported RACING Team, com o objetivo da conquista do título, não só na classe não turbo, mas também no assalto à geral do campeonato, numa altura em que os SSV têm sido o polo de atração do todo-o-terreno nacional.

 Para Ricardo Carvalho, a vinda do ex-campeão da especialidade só acrescenta valor e valoriza melhor que ninguém o piloto do Montijo, “É um prazer receber o Nuno Tavares como colega de equipa, um piloto jovem que sabe o que é vencer este campeonato e tem sido sempre muito rápido nas aparições que tem feito ao campeonato. Em 2016 foi o meu primeiro ano nos SSV e apesar de uma boa primeira parte, tivemos muito azar numa altura em que pensava que as provas que faltavam me eram teoricamente mais favoráveis, por tudo isso temos que estar sempre bem, para conseguir discutir este campeonato até ao fim. Espero que tanto eu como o Nuno sejamos competitivos para discutir todas as corridas até à bandeira de xadrez.” 

Já para Nuno Tavares este é um novo desafio que o piloto diz-se preparado para enfrentar, “Quando falei pela primeira vez com o Vitor Cândido não pensava fazer todo o campeonato de 2017, pensava participar em algumas provas como aconteceu em 2016, onde só fiz duas corridas e andei sempre nas primeiras posições até que alguns problemas técnicos me impediram de obter os resultados que ambicionávamos. Com este convite, fiquei muito motivado com o projeto e recebi logo o total apoio da minha família e amigos, é como dizer, de toda a família Beltauto e decidi aceitar este projeto e estou mais confiante que nunca para conjuntamente com o Ricardo Carvalho mostrar todo o potencial do YXZ1000R SS e naturalmente afirmar todo o meu talento para discutir as corridas. Estou convencido que me vou habituar ao YAMAHA e ser competitivo desde o início, porque é um carro que tem um prazer ímpar de condução.” 

Para Vitor Cândido (Dir. Desportivo da equipa) esta é uma dupla perfeita, “ Todos sabem que o Ricardo Carvalho assumiu o papel principal na defesa das cores da YAMAHA no Campeonato de 2016, venceu duas corridas, venceu também as 3h de Fronteira e não fosse alguns azares incrivelmente inesperados, teríamos certamente discutido o título até ao Portalegre. Para 2017 adivinha-se um campeonato muito, mas muito competitivo, com grandes pilotos e muitos e potentes carros da concorrência, e em minha opinião era importante ter um segundo piloto na estrutura capaz de discutir qualquer corrida e o Nuno Tavares para além de já ter sido Campeão nos UTV/Buggy, é um jovem de 24 anos oriundo da formação do karting, assim como o Ricardo e é indiscutivelmente um dos mais rápidos do plantel nacional. Por isso, penso que a YAMAHA, para além destes dois excelentes pilotos, conta ainda com outras estruturas e outros tantos pilotos muito velozes, capazes também eles de discutir qualquer corrida e que vão naturalmente ajudar a defender a nossa marca. Por tudo isto, acredito que todas as equipas YAMAHA juntas, irão conseguir dar muitas alegrias aos fãs do YXZ1000R SS da YAMAHA.”

Numa altura em que a estrutura procura ainda apoios para 2017, a apresentação oficial fica para o final de Fevereiro.

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