Entrants in the Dakar Rally already have competed their first challenge: getting their vehicles to the Port of Marseille, France, in time to put on quite a car show before catching the boat to Saudi Arabia.
The rally doesn’t start until January 3, but because of coronavirus regulations governing international travel, the 75 cars, 42 trucks, 110 motorcycles and quads that will compete in the 2021 Dakar Rally had to be in Marseilles earlier this month to be loaded onto the Garnet Leader for ocean transport to Jeddah.
Just to be safe and have no hassle with quarantine-related issues, competitor Ashish Raorane arrived from India a month early. Meanwhile, Team Pitlane from Belarus was denied passage at the Polish border and had to detour through Lithuania. The Kamaz entry from Tatarstan, Russia drove its race and support vehicles 5,000 kilometers to the French port.
The rally ends on January 15.
Goodwood announces 2021 dates
Goodwood Motorsport has announced dates for its 2021 events. The 78th Members’ Meeting is scheduled for May 15-16 (already postponed from the usual early-April weekend). The Festival of Speed is set for July 8-11 and the Goodwood Revival for September 17-19.
The Festival of Speed will include a celebration of “The Maestros — Motorsports Great All-Rounders” and Mario Andretti already has been signed up to be one of them.
“Goodwood in July sounds wonderful to me right now,” Andretti is quoted in the Goodwood announcement. “I welcome the invitation and look forward to being there for the third time. It is truly one of the most fan-friendly motorsports events. A very unique jewel. There is simply nothing like it on the planet.”
Tickets to all events, car shows and races, go on sale February 1, 2021.
All events are scheduled pending whatever the British government’s coronavirus guidelines might be at the time.
Detroit Autorama already postponed…
…though only until April 30-May 2.
The 69th annal Detroit Autorama, one of the nation’s major custom car shows, originally was slated for early March 2021.
Championship Auto Shows has announced its 2021 calendar of events. The season starts February 12-14 at Indianapolis, then stages events the February 19-21 weekend at Dallas and Calgary. Pittsburgh and Kansas City each hosts a show February 26-28.
Then it’s Salt Lake City on March 5-7, Omaha and Cincinnati on March 12-14, Milwaukee on April 9-11, Winnipeg April 16-18, Detroit April 30-May 1, Chicago May 7-9 and Houston, though not until November 25-28.
HSR caps its year with Sebring Classic
Historic Sportscar Racing, which in 2021 will become the sanctioning body for the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, completed its 2020 vintage racing season this past weekend with its fifth annual Classic Sebring 12 Hour event in Florida. Think of it as a very fast-moving car show.
The weekend featured a victory in Group A by John Delane in a 1972 Chevron B21. Delane is an American but has done most of his previous vintage racing in Europe, where he’s a multiple champion in the FIA Masters Historic Formula One.
Another Chevron, a 1974 B26, dominated Group B, but with three drivers — Gray Gregory, Randy Buck and Ethan Shippert — taking part. David Porter won Group C in a 2007 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP. Group D was won by Chris Ruppel and Eric Zitza in a 2010 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup car.
HSR opens its 2021 season March 31 back at Sebring with the Spring Fling races.
