{"id":41222,"date":"2020-12-18T12:58:13","date_gmt":"2020-12-18T07:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/livingwithgravity.com\/?p=41222"},"modified":"2020-12-18T12:58:14","modified_gmt":"2020-12-18T07:28:14","slug":"gasgas-factory-racing-is-all-set-for-dakar-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/livingwithgravity.com\/gasgas-factory-racing-is-all-set-for-dakar-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"GASGAS factory racing is all set for Dakar 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Laia Sanz and GASGAS Factory Racing have completed their pre-Dakar testing. And are now counting down the days to the start of their epic New Year adventure.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/livingwithgravity.com\/let-the-2021-dakar-rally-begin\/\"><strong>2021 Dakar Rally<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/livingwithgravity.com\/remy-gardner-takes-the-pole-at-portimao\/\">Remy Gardner takes the pole at Portimao<\/a>.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/livingwithgravity.com\/cfmoto-teases-electric-scooter-zeeho\/\">CFMoto teases electric scooter<\/a>.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/livingwithgravity.com\/kawasaki-recalls-six-new-models\/\">Kawasaki recalls three new models<\/a>.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Soon to be rolling up her sleeves and getting stuck into the 2021 Dakar Rally. Laia will take to the beginning of her 11th Dakar in a little over two weeks. As she looks to further cement her position as one of the event\u2019s true greats.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Laia to contest her 11th Dakar Rally in 2021<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">GASGAS RC 450F to make its second appearance at the famous event<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">12-stage event to cover 7,646 km, including 4,767 km of timed specials<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In what has been a challenging year for all, for Laia recent months have been especially challenging due to contracting Lyme Disease during the summer. Making her final Dakar preparations more complicated than average.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">However, with support from her team, friends, and sponsors, Laia believes she is now ready to take on the world\u2019s toughest cross-country rally. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The RC 450F rider is entirely focused on completing her 11th consecutive Dakar and delivering another strong result.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The 43rd edition of the race will see an increased emphasis placed on rider navigation. And competitor\u2019s abilities to tackle slower-speed, technical terrain, which is excellent news for Laia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Reducing the event\u2019s average speeds, with her ability to both navigate well while under pressure. And complete long stages with the minimum of mistakes, Laia is upbeat about this year\u2019s route.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">With the 2021 Dakar Rally once again being held in the Middle East. The event will start and finish at the Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Like all competitors, Laia will face a short qualifying prologue on Saturday, January 2, before starting the rally proper. And 12 long and demanding stages covering a total of 7,646 km.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">With a rest day in Ha\u2019il midway through the race. Laia will then work her way back to Jeddah <\/span><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">on January 15<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, having raced <strong>4,767 km<\/strong> of special timed stages against the clock.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">With bikes and vehicles already on their way to Jeddah for the start of the race.GASGAS Factory Racing are pleased to announce a couple of changes in the team\u2019s sponsor structure. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Laia will wear KENNY race clothing for her assault on the 2021 Dakar. And receive added support from long-time sponsor KH7.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Laia Sanz:<\/span><\/strong><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> \u201cIt\u2019s been a tough year for me, so to be able to look forward to racing the 2021 Dakar. I injured my hand on the second stage of this year\u2019s Dakar, back in January. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">And although I carried on and completed the event. The injury turned out to be worse than we thought. It took a while at the beginning of the year to recover from that.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0I was looking forward to starting training on my GASGAS trial and enduro bikes, and maybe fitting in some events. Unfortunately. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">When I was finally able to get out on my bikes again, I started to feel ill. Eventually, I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease, which made me feel very unwell.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Thankfully, with the right treatment, I have been able to start riding again. I know I\u2019m not 100% and we\u2019ll have to see just how I feel when the rally begins in January.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">It helps that we have some experience now of the terrain we will face and the way things work with the move to the Middle East. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The event in January should also be a little more technical and with more challenging navigation, so I\u2019m looking forward to that.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">I don\u2019t want to put any pressure on myself, and another finish would be incredible, but my main goal is to go there and enjoy the race.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Jordi Viladoms \u2013 GASGAS Rally Team Manager:<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cLaia is a true champion, a real fighter, and even though this year has been challenging for her we know she will do all she can to be competitive at Dakar. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">She knows very well how to manage the race, and her finishing record is incredible shows how determined she is as a racer, and how she understands the real challenge of Dakar.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">With this year\u2019s route looking like it will be more technical. I\u2019m sure it will suit her well. What she lacks in terms of time riding her bike in recent months.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> I am sure she can make up for with her experience and determination. Dakar is always difficult, but Laia always rises to the challenge.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,39],"tags":[22094,16835,16482],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingwithgravity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41222"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingwithgravity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingwithgravity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwithgravity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwithgravity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41222"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/livingwithgravity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41224,"href":"https:\/\/livingwithgravity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41222\/revisions\/41224"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwithgravity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingwithgravity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwithgravity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwithgravity.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}