After Loon op Zand in the Netherlands, it was Barcelona’s turn to host the second leg of the 2015 Dakar Tour on Tuesday evening. A crowd of 250 people (including some of the the big names of the rally and a large contingent of Spanish journalists) reviewed the 2015 edition and started to imagine the 2016 Dakar.
Spain, the sixth most represented country in the Dakar, is a linchpin of the event in terms of both quantity and quality, providing such champions as Marc Coma, Laia Sanz and Nani Roma, who came to the Dakar Tour, as well as Juan Pedrero García, Jordi Viladoms, Marc Guasch, etc. Marc Coma is aiming for a sixth win, although the official KTM rider warned the journalists in attendance yesterday evening that the competition is getting stiffer and stiffer. After turning heads in 2015 with a best-ever ninth overall place, female rider Laia Sanz has joined the KTM Factory Team this year and thinks the odds are now stacked in her favour to forge ahead in the road to glory. 2014 champion Nani Roma voiced his approval of the addition of Peru to the 2016 course and is gearing up for a tough edition. Mitsubishi Spain sprang the surprise by revealing it will take part in the 2016 Dakar with Rubén García.
Next stop: Poland on Friday.
