International Motorsport Roundup: Dakar 2020 Kicks Off Today, Ashish Raorane To Compete In Africa Eco Race, Alfa Romeo Rebranding, Esapekka Lappi Joins M-Sport Ford

The 2020 season has essentially begun in the world of motorsport with future announcements and a major event. The week kicked off with Alfa Romeo set to get a rebrand and Ashish Raorane set to compete in the Eco Race despite medical concerns. We also have Dakar 2020 finally starting today. Here’s everything that happened this week:

Dakar Rally 2020

Kicking off the first motorsports week of 2020, one of the largest and most gruelling cross-country rallies in the world, the Dakar Rally, will commence today. It will cover a total of 7,500km in 12 stages starting at Jeddah and ending at Qiddiya on January 17. This includes 5,000km worth of special stages. 351 competitors will take on the rally, consisting of 147 bikes, 89 cars, 47 UTVs, 45 trucks, and 23 quads. We also have two Indian teams -- Hero MotoSports Rally and Sherco-TVS Racing -- competing in the rally with an Indian pilot in each camp. The Indian pilots consist of CS Santosh for Hero MotoSports and Harith Noah representing Sherco-TVS Racing. What’s more, we’ll be covering the event live. So stay tuned to ZigWheels for the latest updates on Dakar 2020.  

Africa EcoRace

Besides Dakar 2020, we’ll also have the Africa Eco Race starting on January 7. It is a cross-country rally that covers 12 stages and over 6,500km from Monaco to Dakar in Senegal. India’s top non-factory rider Ashish Raorane will be competing despite suffering from dengue very close to the event date. He will be utilising a KTM 450 EXC for the event. 

Formula One 

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With pre-season testing only a month away, the main focus among Formula One teams is to have their 2020 challengers ready in time. Besides that, Alfa Romeo is set to be rebranded into Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen, after the agreement of a multi-year partnership with Orlen as a co-title sponsor. This move also coincides with former Williams driver, Robert Kubica, being signed up as a reserve driver at Alfa Romeo. Since this team was formerly known as Sauber, it marks the Polish driver’s return to the Swiss-based squad after 2009 when it was called BMW-Sauber.  

This week also saw the Formula One paddock celebrate the 51st birthday of 7-time world champion Michael Schumacher. The German racer etched his name into the upper echelons of Formula One over 19 seasons, racing for teams like Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari and Mercedes. He currently holds the record of most world titles (7) as well as the most number of wins (91). While there is no update yet on Schumacher’s condition post his 2013 ski-accident, we hope he has a speedy recovery. 

WRC

In the world of off-road motorsports, Esapekka Lappi has made the switch from Citroen Racing to M-Sport Ford for the upcoming WRC season. The 28-year-old Finn will join 25-year-old Teemu Suninen and 23-year-old Gus Greensmith to become one of the youngest driver line-ups in WRC. He replaces  Elfyn Evans, who has made the switch to Toyota Gazoo Racing. Esapekka Lappi and co-driver Janne Ferm are no strangers to Fiestas as they last drove it in 2012 to clinch the Finnish Championship.

Image Source 1- Formula One

Image Source 2- WRC