The Dakar 2012 team in Marineda 06/09/2011

The Mitsubishi L-200 Pro piloted by José López Rivas will have to cover almost 10,000 km crossing Argentina, Chile and Peru

MARINEDA CITY Leisure & Shopping sponsors the only Galician team of cars (a total of 177) which will participate in the Dakar 2012, which will be held between 1 and 15 January and where the participants will have to cover almost 10,000 kilometres between Mar del Plata and Lima, crossing Argentina, Chile and Peru. The team Racing Dakart-Marineda City will run with a Mitsubishi L-200 PRO, with engine and gears model DiD 3.2, Ollins double shock absorbers, fibre body work, reinforced tubular chassis and 300 litre deposit for driving 1,000 kilometres per day. The aim is to reach the finish line in Lima on 15 January.

The pilot for the adventure is José López Rivas (Lugo, 1960), owner of the company París Dakart (go-karts in Marineda City), and director and president of the racing team, who will be accompanied by the co-pilot Joan Rubí. López Rivas has participated since he was 26 in different raids, both on motorcycles as on 4x4s, and has participated in the African Dakar in 2007, in the Dakar Series Hungary-Romania and Pax Rally of Portugal in 2008 and in the Dakar Argentina-Chile 2009 and 2010 editions. He has over 20 years experience in the design, creation and management of indoor and outdoor go-karts, among which are the Sanxenxo go-karts (outdoor), Pamplona, Gijon, Barcelona, A Coruña or Badalona, the latter managed in partnership with the pilot Marc Gené. Also, in 2001 he invented and patented a special protection system which has been installed in circuits in over 10 countries.

After the vehicle's mechanical preparation, the team Racing Dakart-Marineda City will train in the Merzuga dunes, in the Sahara dessert, to achieve the maximum feasibility, and successfully conquer each one of the stages in order to become the first Galician team in the category for cars to reach the finish line in the hardest and most extreme automobile race.