GasGas Factory Racing Team will be represented by none other than Laia Sanz on her GasGas RC 450F . Contracting Lyme disease during the summer , Laia has had a difficult training season leading up to this event . This year will mark her 11th Dakar Rally .
“ It ’ s been a really tough year for me ,” says Laia . “ To be able to look forward to racing
Photo courtsey of GasGas Factory Racing the 2021 Dakar means so much ... I don ’ t want to put any pressure on myself , and another finish would be incredible , but my main goal is to go there and just enjoy the race .”
Rieju will make its debut with official riders Joan Pedrero and Oriol Mena ( who finished 2018 in 7 th place and was the best rookie of the competition ), with Marc Calmet making his own debut as a Rookie in the Marathon category .
Rieju ’ s commercial directory , Alex López , says that “ Rieju ’ s passage through the Dakar will serve as an experience to determine what demands a bike pass through in such a severe test . For our part , the intention is to work on a fourstroke engine and create a full enduro and off-road product range . We will apply the experience to projects we have in different engine capacities , and also in the bike variants .”
Photo courtsey of Rieju
VOL . 5 ISSUE 1 - JANUARY 2021 // PAGE 21