Polokwane-born and bred motorsport champion Brian Baragwanath is ready to take on the Dakar 2021 challenge in Saudi Arabia from 3 to 15 January.
Baragwanath ended in third place in the quad category of the Dakar 2016 race and switched to car racing after sustaining an elbow injury during the same year.
The Dakar 2021 starts and ends in Jeddah and will cover a total distance of 7 900 km in 12 stages over 13 days. Baragwanath will be accompanied by his co-pilot, Taye Perry who also completed the Dakar 2020 on a motorbike.
The Baragwanath/Perry team will use a CR6 race car with a 7-litre Chevrolet V8 motor and a six-speed sequental gearbox with air-conditioning as an essential feature.
The CR6 is Century Racing’s state-of-the-art 2WD race car, a product of 10 years of research and development and a major evolution of its predecessor, the CR5. It is fully designed from the ground up and able to tackle the hardest races in the world. It has gone through hundreds of hours of testing since 2017. Its aim is to be simply the best in the world, according to Baragwanath.
The costs of participating in the event runs into hundreds of thousands of Rand and the teams are therefore dependent on sponsors that are currently not readily forthcoming due to the economic climate.
The entry fee per car is R532 000 and R540 000 is payable towards the entry fee for three mechanics, while the entry fee for the assistant’s chase car is R50 000.
Shipping of the race car and spares to Saudi Arabia and back will cost R140 000 and another R120 000 is needed for flight tickets.
An amount of more than R1,2 million is required by the end of this month to secure participation and to enable motor sport enthusiasts to make a contribution, the BBG Supporters Team is organising a get-together at the race track on the Silicon Road on Saturday, 3 October from 09:00 to 15:00.
All motor sport supporters are welcome and there will be an opportunity for a spin around the track in the CR6 to raise funds.
Other sponsoring options include your name on the car in gold, silver or bronze and featuring in the supporters’ album on Facebook.
There will also be photo opportunities with Brian and Taye and a braai and drinks to end a day of fun.
Call Clive or Sonika Baragwanath at 083 627 4767 or 083 631 7420 for more details. Follow Brian Baragwanath Racing on Facebook for all the latest news.
Story: Barry Viljoen
