Toasts in paper cups at 10,000 meters above the Red Sea

The trip itinerary is more like a escape game or an enigmatic than to the programming of the New Year’s toast. The Dakar that begins next January 3 is a box of surprises from the moment you get involved with this great adventure, which at every step never ceases to surprise due to the most unusual situations: he ‘chin chin’ It happened with paper cups, on top of a plane at an altitude of 10,000 meters and over the Red Sea. Much of the extreme adventure caravan arrived in Saudi Arabia after midnight that marked the passage from 2024 to 2025.

The airport of Bisha, a southern city in Saudi Arabia with about 180,000 inhabitants, housed all the planes that, on charter flights, transported contingents from Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Paris, Frankfurt, Rome and some other Eastern European cities. Most arrived within a few minutes of each other..

When the Saudi clocks struck midnight (6 hours more than Argentina), the flight coming from Barcelona was surprised over the Red Sea. And there arose the improvised and spontaneous New Year’s greeting between the crew and the particular passenger.

Some drivers, as well as mechanics, team leaders, journalists from different countries, members of the organization and other participants experienced a unique New Year’s Eve.

The same paper cups with which they served the drink were used to raise them and wish, in different languages, the “Happy New Year”. Among the most recognized there were the Cordoban Nicolás Cavigliassowinner of the Dakar in Peru with quadricycles and now Side by Side pilot, and his wife, Valentina Pertegariniits navigator and world champion of the specialty.

Also the nice Laia Sanzformer motorcycle competitor and now accelerating on the four wheels of light vehicles.

For Argentines, the route of the trip is striking for its characteristics. It all started on Monday, December 30, with the departure from Ezeiza. The trip in total took a little more than 30 hourswhat was enough to touch four continentsalthough it started during one year and ended the next.

This intricate itinerary led to departure from Buenos Aires, direct flight to Barcelona, ​​and continuity with the charter to stopover in Cairo, Egypt, and finally in 2025 the arrival in Bisha, Saudi Arabia. America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

Meanwhile, in the camp, where some 3000 personas who will inhabit this itinerant city until the January 17those who were already installed gathered in front of the main stage to celebrate midnight and shout for the New Year.

The center or “downtown” of the bivouac or camp resembles the layout of Lollapalooza, with different points of attraction distributed in neuralgic sectors of the place.

The central stage is used on competition days to reward the pilots who win the stages and participate in the W2RC World Championship, as well as the “briefing” or talks prior to the stages, to inform the crews about modifications or warnings. with the route sheet for the next day’s stage.

Everyone is already in the camp. In the KTM team there are brothers Kevin y Luciano Benavídeswho for the first time will wear the colors of the same team in a Dakar, even though the youngest of them ran for Husqvarna, a brand belonging to the structure of the Austrian corporation.

Outside of official teams, the Neuquén Sebastian Rostan He is also getting ready to represent Argentina in the premier category. The Patagonian is accompanied by his father, Juan, who assists him masterfully and leaves no detail to chance. From washing clothes at the end of each stage to feeding and moving your motorhome.

Juan Cruz Yacopinifrom the Puma Energy team, is the only national representative in the major car category, aboard a Toyota Hilux. While among light vehicles, the aforementioned Cavigliasso, David Zillethe quadricycle champion Manu Andújarthey are getting ready for Thursday’s game, with the start of the prologue, which will be here in Bisha. The Lobos driver switched to cars, since the organization decided to eliminate the quads starting this season.

On Wednesday the activity will focus on completing the technical and administrative procedures, as well as accelerating in the area reserved for the “shakedown”, in which the pilots test the units to check that everything works as planned.

With the race starting on Friday morning, the Dakar will cover much of Saudi territory. The caravan will arrive in Alula and in Ha’il there will be a day of rest, on Friday, January 10, and then return to the south, passing through the capital Riyadh and continuing towards the “Empty Quarter”, the most inhospitable but also the richest desert. of this Middle Eastern country.

The checkered flag will fall on January 17 at the Shubaytah camp, near the Persian Gulf, leaving behind some 8,000 kilometers of adventures.

An unusual start to the year for Dakar 2025. Men, women and machines get ready to challenge the imposing Saudi landscapes.