JAVEA TO BE START-POINT FOR MOROCCO RALLY
Wednesday 25th January 2012

The town of Javea will be the starting point in March of the spring edition of the Maroc Challenge, a rally that runs through African territory and which is specifically aimed at amateurs with limited resources and no backing from sponsors, but who want to  live a great adventure.  The rally also has a charitable aspect, as the participants will be taking basic goods and materials to the people of the desert as they travel through. The first edition of this low-cost rally was held last December, when it proved to be a great success in terms of participation. In its second edition, with a full two months to go before the closing of  the registration period, there are already twenty-seven teams signed up.

According to the organiser of the race, Rui Cabaço, this low cost raid is an opportunity to experience the same sensations of rallies such as the Dakar or the Panafrica, but for very little money. Seven days along a route filled with dust and stones, camping outdoors and the arriving at the dream destination: the beach of Essaoira.

The raid covers 2,000 kilometres across the desserts and mountains of  Morocco, both on and off road. Participants  are not required to have any previous experience, just a 4x2 or 4x4 vehicle registered before 1995. With an  80- kilometre-per-hour speed limit on the off-road tracks, the competition has more to do with resistance than with speed. According to Cabaço, the real challenge is reaching the finish line with an old SUV, Fiat Panda, Seat Marbella or Peugeot 205 (which was the winner of the winter race) that has undergone some minor modifications for the race.

Cabaço also pointed out that the second pillar of the Maroc Challenge is its charity labour. In the December race,  the organization itself was in charge of  transporting clothes, school supplies, toys or medical supplies to the settlements and villages in the desert. Now,  the Alicante-based children's shoe company, Garvalín, has joined forces with the organisation and will be sponsoring the transport of the humanitarian aide material, as well as donating 300 pairs of shoes for Moroccan children. The racer expressed his gratitude for the generosity of this sponsor, leaving the door open to further collaborations.

As far as ties between the Maroc Challenge and Javea go, as well as being the place of residence of  Cabaço and Juanjo Llidó, his co-driver and co-organiser, Javea is also the home town of  the winners of the first edition of the Maroc Challenge, David Reynolds and Javier Gonzalez. For this reason, Javea,  thanks to the collaboration of the Town Hall, was chosen to hold the first briefing session of the race. Consequently, most of the race participants in the rally, both from all over Spain and abroad, will meet up in Javea on 31st March, where they will pass the technical verifications. An enclosure will be set up for the participating teams and vehicles to concentrate and the organisers will hand out the numbers and carry out the safety checks there.  Following this, a motorcade will depart on route  to Almeria, where they will embark for  Morocco.

The project has the backing of the departments of Tourism and Sports, because as well as being a sporting event, the Maroc Challenge is expected to have a promotional impact for Javea. The heads of these departments, Antonio Miragall and Juan Luis Cardona, thanked the organisers for featuring Javea so prominently in this increasingly popular rally and   encouraged the residents to to come out and witness the departure of the teams.

Those interested in signing up, collaborating or obtaining further information, please visit the website: www.marocchallenge.es.

Source: Press Release - Xàbia Ajuntament