Africa Eco Race Is Under Way

[advrider]

After two consecutive years of cancellation (thanks for nothing, COVID-19!), the Africa Eco Race is underway, preparing to launch all racers from the real start line on October 18.

The Africa Eco Race started in Monaco this year, sort of; racers assembled there on October 16, but it was for all the pre-race tech check-ups, registration, pomp and circumstance and other formalities. The bikes should be either on a ferry across the Mediterranean now, or being off-loaded in the city of Nador, awaiting their first, short special of the race.

Once the racing starts, this year should be a doozy. Check out the map of the 2022 course, below:

Image: Africa Eco Race

In case you didn’t notice, this year’s Africa Eco Race actually ends at Dakar, unlike the officially-named Dakar Rally, which begins, runs and ends entirely in Saudi Arabia these days, after a decade in South America.

If you want to follow along with the race this year, you can find the Live Tracking page here. Will it be as unreliable as the ASO’s tracker for Dakar? The only way to find out is to religiously click the F5 button through the week as you follow along. Results will be found here, once racers start completing stages.

Who’s signed up? You can see the racers listed here; there are very few stars of the rally raid scene, but there are a few familiar faces. Pol Tarres and Alessandro Botturi will pilot the Yamaha T7 racebike that they’ve been flogging in non-FIM rally raids this year. Stefan Svitko is racing the Eco race as well, probably the biggest star at this year’s event.

For more deets, keep an eye on the Racing sub-forum as the race goes on. There’s already an Eco Race thread started, and maybe you’ll see some info in the F5 Bivouac as well, although that thread is focused on the FIM races.

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