Proud GRO contribution to a sustainable competition at the 2023 Dakar Rally
High reliability and performance of GRO lubricants were once again tested and proven at the 2023 Dakar Rally. The GRO teams finished strong in all categories with sustainable competition being a proven theme.
Team Astara Mobilty GRO comprised of Carlos Checa Carrera and Marc Sola finished in the midst of tough competition in 32nd place overall. Within the T1.2 Prototype Cross-Country Cars 4x2 category, they placed 10th and best Spanish team.
Team Rieju GRO formed by Diego Llanos & Daniel Nosiglia faced many many obstacles of the unforgiving Arabian desert. Llanos finished a respectable Dakar 2023 but Nosiglia was forced with a heartbreaker withdraw on the penultimate day of competition while in 10th place.
The KH-7 Epsilon GRO team campaigned the first hydrogen-powerd truck in Dakar's history. It was well placed in ranking but on the 12th stage crashed with a dramatic rollover while in the remote Empty Quarter desert. Fortunately, none of the members of the Spanish team, composed of pilot Jordi Juvanteny, co-pilot José Luis Criado and navigator Jordi Ballbé, suffered physical injuries in the incident. Similar rollovers happened to several other teams on this especially difficult stage. After 48 hours, with the help of fellow racers and four cars and they were able to right the truck. The incident has served to demonstrate the safety of the hydrogen system and also its reliability as they could consume the residual gas on the road stretch to the final podium of Dammam.
"We were just happy to have pioneered and satisfied to have shown that this technology is viable and that a cleaner race can be made," concludes Jordi Juvanteny.
Once again, GRO lubricants has proven performance and reliability in the harshest rally in the world, the Dakar. We look forward to the challenges of Dakar 2024!