Pordenone, 3rd July 2025_ “It’s nice being back here, it feels like home”it’s the most frequent phrase used by those involved in the organization of the event, that, after six years, opens its headquarters again at the Pordenone fairground. Race management, press room, ranking center, secretariat, arbitration colleges, assistance park, all services set up in large and cozy spaces. Today 80 contestants from 3 continents and 30 nations will go through the sporitive checks (from 8 to 18) and the technical checks (from 9 to 19), while at 11 the authorities press conference is planned, followed by the one for the drivers at 15. Engines running from 17 to 20 in a section of the riverbed in San Vito al Tagliamento, dedicated area for the shakedown, the occasion to check the efficiency of the vehicles and of their teams before the actual race. Then the last preparatory step, the briefing with the race director (at 21.30), fondamental for the last updates in the track. Tomorrow and saturday the race, characterized by the prologue “Giulia Maroni” (11 km), the double selective sector “Rivignano” (35 km), triple selective sector “Tagliamento” (120 km), with a total of 441 km of timed trak for the two major challenges valid for both the World and the European FIA Championship. The excitement of the days before the Italian Baja is easy to read in the words of Rebecca Busi, the youngest Italian woman to ever complete a Dakar race (2022), competing in Pordenone with a Can Am Maverick by South Racing, navigated by Uruguayan Sergio Lafuente. “Here the tracks near habitated areas are very different from the recent races I competed at in Cile. They’re a mix of fast and slow sections, with river crossings and some complicated parts that really put the vehicle and the team to the test". The Bolognese drive formed, together with Giulia Maroni, an all female couple of great ambitions and, therefore, the start of the prologue dedicated to her late team member will be surely emotional. Busi was also an actress in the movie “Race and Glory: Ausi vs Lancia” (2024), playing the role of the navigator Patrizia Pons. Protagonist on another stage was Christal Vomiero, from Padua, crowned “A Girl for Cinema” last year, now ready to navigate Marco Zini, Can Maverick driver in the national championship. Other contestants, other stories. “The Italian Baja saga started 10 years ago for us” says Lithuanian Benediktas Vanagas, competing on the Toyota Hilux of the Gazoo Racing Baltics team, "and this is my sixth time in this challenge between vineyards and dried rivers", while it will be the first for his navigator Aisvydas Paliukenas.
Italian Baja Press office
