José Luis López and Agustín García enter the Desert Trophy charity race to allocate proceeds to groups working with people with Down syndrome
Two people from Cartagena will cross the deserts of Morocco at the wheel of an old Fiat Panda from 1991. José Luis López and Agustín García will start next week the Desert Trophy, a solidarity rally in which only vehicles of this type participate, to attract all the proceeds groups that work with people with intellectual disabilities. Specifically to the Moroccan association Enfants du Paradis.
There have already been several times when these two people from Cartagena take control of the Panda to cross the Sahara desert. Support from various sponsors and event registrations have historically served to work closely with the Assido Collective from Cartagena, which works with people with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities; and providing assistance to the aforementioned Enfant du Paradis, renewing computer equipment in this part of the planet and providing access to medicines and school supplies, among other things.
This time López and García will participate for the first time in the Desert Trophy, which will resume after being canceled in 2021 due to the coronavirus health situation. This rally has a special interest in caring for the environment, nature and repopulation, apart from the solidarity goals of the Cartagena Panda Racing association, to which the two inhabitants of Cartagena belong.
In this race, the two drivers face each other for a week on a track of approximately 2,500 kilometers, crossing Morocco in several stages of 500 kilometers per day, until the finish to Nador. There are about a hundred participating cars, all with the obligation to be Panda before 2003. One of the two Cartagena is a 1991 Fiat Panda 4×4 Sisley. Although it is practically new, mainly in engine, suspension and protections. “And even with that, there’s no guarantee that it won’t cause you problems,” says López.
The minimum requirements to participate are: having previous experience in this type of race, as well as knowledge of navigation, steering and electronics. All competitors must pass a series of checks before the test, in addition to passing strategic points along the route and complying with speed according to the layout, at the risk of being disqualified if they fail to do so.
López y García’s Panda “can travel up to 100 miles on the highway”, although in the Desert Trophy there are up to 100 sections and others 20, as they cross small towns in the desert. All participants have tools to control speed, although the organization of the test will also do it. The pilots, unlike other races, will be staying overnight in hostels and hotels already assigned on the Desert Trophy website.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
