The oldest active Spanish motorcycle manufacturer, Rieju, will make its debut in the elite category of the 2021 Dakar Rally with its official riders, Joan Pedrero and Oriol Mena. Marc Calmet will also be part of the Rieju Team, making his debut as a Rookie in the Marathon category.
The team is scheduled to arrive in Jeddah next Monday on a charter flight from Spain. The 2021 Dakar Rally continues, despite the mobility restrictions imposed by Saudi Arabia, which has ordered the cancellation of all its commercial flights and the closure of its borders by land, sea and air until next Monday, December 28. This restriction does not alter the travel program of Rieju Team, which is scheduled to arrive in the eastern country next Monday on a charter flight, chartered by the organization of the test. The RIEJU race director, Miquel García, confirms that “fortunately the logistics of the event have been resolved and the participation of our team, in this sense, guaranteed. Our vehicles and technical equipment are already in Jeddah and our riders are also looking forward to arriving to compete and enjoy making history with Rieju“.
The 2021 Dakar Rally will be held from 3 to 15 January in Saudi Arabia. 108 pilots from different parts of the world will compete in the 12-stage loop race, with departure and arrival in Jeddah, and a day of rest on January 9 in the town of Ha’il. As a novelty, participants in all categories will receive the routebook just before the departure of each stage and there will be restrictions in the category to contain costs, such as tyre limits or the time when riders can work on their bikes. A Dakar Classic class will also be on action, which will allow participants to race with vehicles prior to 2000.
The participation of the Rieju Team in the most recognized rally raid in the world will feature live streaming of the unique experience of its three official riders who will give an international projection of the Spanish manufacturer, who since March owns the intellectual and industrial property of the Gas Gas enduro platform from the Torrot group. This harsh test will see the machines operating under the most extreme conditions. This will be of great use for product development to help expand the current range of higher capacity motorcycles for the brand. The company’s commercial director, Alex López, says that “Rieju’s passage through the Dakar will serve as an experience to determine what demands a bike passes through in such a severe test. For our part, the intention is to work on a four-stoke engine and create a full enduro and off-road product range. We will apply the experience to the projects we have in different engine capacities, and also in the bike variants.”
On sports objectives, the race manager at Rieju,Miquel García emphasises that “we have worked many months on the project and our ambition is to make a top 10 but above all that the three drivers cross the finishline”. In order to make the experience as satisfying as possible, Rieju has entrusted its assistance in the FN SPEED team, captained by Santi Navarro, with extensive experience of more than 25 years in the world of competition. This time, the bikes will be supplied by FN SPEED.
Rieju Team
As for the official riders of Rieju it should be noted that Oriol Mena debuted in the motorcycle category in the Dakar 2018, finishing in 7th position and was the best rookie of the race. In 2019 he finished 9th and was the best Spanish rider ranked in motorcycles. An injury prevented his participation in the last edition.
Oriol Mena: “For me it is a slightly special Dakar because of the difficulties that we have found by the Covid that has complicated us the preparation of the test more than we would have wanted. I have to thank all the team that has made it possible for us to be on the start line on January 3rd and especially the Rieju family, for their support and formation of this structure with which we want to collect many successes.”
With more than 700,000 kilometers traveled in the desert, Joan Pedrero arrives at his 13th Dakar with thousands of stories linking him to the rally. With two 5th places in 2011 and 2013 as best results in his list, the rider from Canet de Mar was sixteenth in the last edition of the Dakar. It should be remembered that in 2014 he achieved his first victory in the fourth stage of that edition which, three years later, in 2017, prevailed in the first stage of the test.
Joan Pedrero: “Facing this new Dakar with a new team, with Rieju, makes me very excited, almost as if it was the first. We have trained hard for this edition and I am convinced that we will make a good team between the three. We have experience, many kilometers traveled, and I rely on experience to make a good position.”
For his part, the youngest rider from Guardiola de Bergada, Marc Calmet, is Catalonia’s Enduro champion and this is his first participation.
Marc Calmet: “Participating in the Dakar has always been a dream for me and doing so by the support of Rieju and my two teammates, with their experience, is a luxury that I face with great enthusiasm and very aware of the hardness of the test. I feel very welcomed by my teammates of whom and with a combined effort we can acheieve great things.”
RIEJU WILL ALLOW YOU TO LIVE THE EXPERIENCE FROM WITHIN
For the first time in the Dakar Rally the team has a unique social media role that will convey all the details of the race to its 150,000 + followers who will discover how the Dakar is lived from within. Dressed in several GoPro cameras and different mobile devices, the @willy_foxx athlete will reveal the day-to-day life of rieju Team pilots by broadcasting daily scenes such as after-stage team meetings, riders group dinners, their breaks or the wonderful sunsets that the desert will bring them.
RIEJU IN COMPETITION. Historical
Rieju’s experience in world-class sports competitions goes back 4 decades. It began its journey in 1978 with the manufacture of the TT 406 motorcycle as an evolution of the previous model, with a 74 cc Minarelli engine. Rieju began their successful adventure in the off-road competition, participating in his first Enduro Championship de España in the 75cc category, going on to obtain a total of 12 International Championships in this series.
Since its inception it has been present in races of different categories, although it has been the Enduro of 80 cc that has given the most wins to the brand, with 9 victories in the Spanish Championship and the Runner-up of the World in the ISDE of Enduro of 1985. Also participation of the brand, that same year, in the Six International Days of Enduro of la Cerdanya was a historic milestone. Rieju tested with four MR80 motorcycles in the 80cc category. Francesc Rubio was the most outstanding rider, in an excellent second place, in a race where Rieju drivers won 2 gold medals, 1 silver and 1 bronze. Other victories that stand out in other fields have been those of Quim Fabregas in 1985 with a Strada and that of Carlos Checa (world superbike champion – SBK) in 1991 on a RST80, both in the Spanish Speed Championship.
Rieju’s first participation in the Dakar dates back to 2009. The brand then developed two large displacement enduro models (Marathon 250 and 450) and debuted with 3 motorcycles integrated into the Tot Curses team. This first participation was followed by another 2, with the Marathon 450 already in production and integrated by official teams of the brand. Taking a victory by the rider Filippo Ciotti in 2011, in the category standard production motorcycles class.
