As you can see, the FenekRally has made its way into the Dakar, competing in the Truck category T5.3. The beast, a MAN TGA Rally truck, is handled by the JalanMarronesFenek team, made up of Javier Jacoste (first driver), Lluís Rosa (navigator), and Francesc Ester, who unfortunately could not participate in the 2021 edition due to a positive PCR test. They quickly found a replacement in Jordi Celma as the second driver—an experienced racer eager for adventure.
On Sunday, December 27, 2020, our Dakar team departed from Barcelona bound for Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), where, after taking their final PCR test and testing negative, the team presentation took place.
Jalan Marrones Presentation
Prologue
The prologue of a race, or in this case of the Dakar, serves to determine the starting order for the next stage.
The special stage began without driver Francesc Ester and with a new teammate joining at the last minute. All of this while being a team making its debut.
Lluís Rosa: “Everything was new for Javier and me, but it’s clear that Jordi has already taken part in other competitions.”
Javier Jacoste: “We were a bit cautious because we didn’t know the truck well yet, but everything went very smoothly. Many thoughts go out to Francesc, whom I miss a lot after so many months of preparation.”
At the end of the prologue stage, JalanMarronesFenek secured 35th place on the starting grid—not bad at all for a debuting team!
First stage:
At the start of the stage, after 60 km, they suffered their first puncture and lost about 20–25 minutes changing the wheel.
It was a brutal track that pushed the team’s skills to the limit, especially those of Javier Jacoste. On that same track, they came across an SSV that had broken down and was waiting for assistance, so the JalanMarronesFenek team offered to tow it.
With 100 km remaining to finish the first stage, already at night, they found another broken-down SSV from a Qatari team and towed it all the way to the finish line!
A two-hour rest followed before starting the next stage.
