Baja España Aragón - Rally Championship
The 29th BAJA ESPAÑA ARAGÓN, and will take place on 20th, 21st and 22nd July 2012, with scoring for the newly created Copa del Mundo de Rallies Cross Country (Cross Country Rallies World Cup). It will also be debuting in the Copa del Mundo de Bajas FIM. This edition will be more competitive than ever, and the route will focus entirely on the Monegros area, the desert that spawned this championship many years ago.
History of the race Since the early 80’s Baja España has been attracting adventurers and sportsmen to this important sporting event. A Spanish-French group, led by François Vincent and Carlos Gracia, president at that time of the Aragonese-Rioja Federation of Automobiles, decided to import the idea of the Paris-Dakar and Baja California to Spain. In search of a route, they found a semi desert area in Aragon of unparalleled beauty, called Monegros, the ideal setting for combining beautiful scenery with a perfect spot to host a race of 1,000 km non-stop. Thus was born the Baja España, a race of great difficulty, due to the high temperatures and thick dust. Since its first edition Baja España has managed to be a classic of the World Cup and one of the most popular rally events on the international calendar. Trucks first made an appearance in the Baja in 2005. Drivers This race is an excellent platform to display the image of Spain and Aragon in Europe with the presence of personalities from the motor racing scene and the best drivers of the national and international scene: Ari Vatanen, Pierre Lartigue, Jacky Icks, Timo Salonen, Jean Louis Schlesser and more recently Nani Roma, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Stéphane Peterhansel in cars, or Bacou, Arcarons, Mas, Gallardo, Steuri, Roma, Esteve, Coma on motorcycles. The route of the XXIX edition The route of the XXIX edition will take place between the N-II and the Sierra de Alcubierre, with a special 200 kilometres that will start and finish in the town of Perdiguera and all vehicles will travel using different ways and different paths. This is typical Monegros terrain with dusty tracks and areas of "blanquero" with deep ruts that will appear as you run the race. The second third of the route will pass through an area of irrigated land with faster tracks, while the third will once again be on slower tracks. In all, the bikes will travel 530 kilometres against the clock, the cars about 520 kilometres and the trucks 420 kilometres. More information: www.bajaspain.com |
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