During the Olympic Games’ year Pordenone will also welcome participants coming from all five continents.
On the eve of the eve of the race’s eve the Fuoristrada Club 4x4 of Mauro Tavella & C. spreads good vibrations. The 23rd Italian Baja can count on 115 participants, coming from all over the World to take part, from June 23rd to June 26th, in a race where competitors can compare themselves and share the same passion. Motor Festival with a mix of show and adventure throughout the extraordinary landscape offered by the “grave”, the gravel soil which characterize the stream beds of the Cosa torrent and the Meduna and Tagliamento rivers.
Short but blooming track, characterized by the misleading fords and the muddy labyrinth which hardly test the ability of drivers and bikers. A track which represents an irresistible call for all those who don’t care for the scorching sun, the heavy rain and the dust.
After four of the FIA World Cup Cross for Country Rally races, the partial rank is led by Nasser Al-Attiyah with 120 scores, who seized the first position both at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and at home, a the Qatar Sealine, ahead on the Saudi Yazeed Al Rajhi (84) who twice reached the second place. The Russian Vladimir Vasilyev is the third one (53) thanks to the honorable position gained at the Northern Forest in St. Petersburg and the third position at the Sealine. The Finnish Mikko Hirvonen (32) and the Lithuanian Maris Neiksans (30), will miss the Italian Baja; on the other hand, this challenge will be surely faced by Yuriy Sazonov (28), from Kazakhstan, Bryce Menzies (24), from the U.S.A. and Marek Dabrowski (24), from Poland.
As for challenges, curiosity and interest will be risen by the participation of the deaf-mute driver Mohammed Al-Harqan, navigated through the sign language by his assistance Feras Alouhche; great attention will be called by the female crew composed by Emma Gilmour and her navigator Sara Labuscagne, chosen through the selections of the FIA Women in Motorsport; curiosity will be also tickled by the electric vehicles represented by the prototype Acciona of the Jaton Racing Team. His Majesty Stéphane Peterhansel will line up at the starting line together with his wife Andrea Mayer with a Yamaha YZX 1000, to test its all-road potentiality.
The FIM Bajas World Cup will start just from Pordenone, offering a four acts opera where both bikes and quads will play the main role, and where the local biker Vanni Cominotto (Husqvarna) will be ready to come in ahead on all his challengers, as he successfully did in 2014. Besides, as he lives near the Tagliamento riverbank, he was used to learn what motorsport means by riding along the riverbed since he was a child. And for all people looking also for funny moments, the program this year will give them the embarrassment of choosing: not just the traditional “Rauscedo Jump” and the confirmed “Valvadrom” by the Delizia bridge, but also the brand new ”Smart Race Arena” which will be located in San Martino al Tagliamento; show, emotions and food and wine stalls.
Press Office Italian Baja
Carlo Ragogna
