São Paulo – The Brazilians are standing out in the first stages of the 2021 Rally Dakar, which takes place in Saudi Arabia. The 43rd edition runs through ten cities in the middle of the Arabian Gulf desert until January 15.
Veteran driver Reinaldo Varela and co-driver Maykel Justo won in the first day of the race on Sunday (3). The Monster Energy/Can/Am team participates in the UTV category, which includes two occupants for off-race disputes and is driving an SSV. In second came the duo composed by Brazilian co-driver Gustavo Gugelmin and American driver Austin Jones.
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On Monday (4), in the second stage, the Brazilian duo came in seventh, while Gugelmin duo came in ninth. The race started in the city of Jeddah and ends in the same place 12 days later. Along the way, the drivers will complete 12 stages plus a prologue.
To keep the race schedule, the organizers put in place severe COVID-19 prevention measures including frequent tests for drivers and co-drivers.
In 2021, Varela completes 20 years of career. He and Gugelmin were a duo in previous Darkar editions and won the 2018 edition in Morocco. They also won the World Cup for Cross Country in 2019 in Morocco in the UTV category.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
