The 15th edition of Rally dos Sertões (the Brazilian backlands), scheduled to begin on August 8 in Goiânia (capital of the midwestern Brazilian state of Goiás), will have the largest number of foreign pilots and sailors in the history of the competition.
The information was disclosed today (27) by the press office for the event. The rally will count on 23 foreign participants. A total of 243 competitors have enrolled for the race.
According to the press office, the Rally will pass through six states of Brazil, covering 4,776 kilometers. It is the largest off-road competition in the Americas.
So far, 161 vehicles have been enrolled, 83 of which are motorcycles, 58 are cars, 12 are trucks, and eight are quadricycles. The final list of competitors will be disclosed on August 07.
According to the event's organizers, the greater amount of foreigners is due to the fact that the Rally dos Sertões is worth points for the World Rally for motorcycles and quadricycles, so much so that 14 pilots from outside Brazil are going to compete in these two categories.
The foreign participants are from Portugal, Chile, France, Belgium, Poland, Uruguay, Argentina, and Norway. According to the press office, foreigners include Cyrill Després, winner of the last Rally dos Sertões in the motorcycle category, and two-time winner of the Dakar Rally, in 2005 and 2007.
Anba
