It was difficult and difficult, but we are the winners of Panda Raid 2023, a Small Dakar Classic
Classic Raid Assistance with the preparation of Tato Racing, created a champion car for us. As soon as I got on it, I knew I had something different. He pushed, he turned up, he clung to the ground like a limpet, he copied the terrain. In short, everything a car must have to win a test of these characteristics. The car was taken by Raúl from tato racing in unfavorable conditions and in record time he managed to make a really winning unit.
We stood in the port of Almería, with more enthusiasm than anything else, and we saw how the level of cars was really high. 270 registered and some units from all over Europe, they were really good and with a very high preparation. For years, the victory in the race had been around us, and for one reason or another it eluded us. We had won a good number of stages but there was always some problem that annoyed everything.
There are many people and fans of the motor world who think that Panda raid is something easy to face and run. Nothing further from that. Currently, Panda Raides is the closest thing to a Dakar Classic that I have seen, I would say that it is a Small Dakar Classic. The tracks are hard, stones, sand, difficult areas to go through and all this on top of a really simple vehicle, a Panda.
Let’s add to all this that we have won the test with a 4×2 and we have beaten all the participants including the 4x4s. In the last stage, we were on the verge of losing everything due to an oversight, but thanks to the navigator and the second car we had in the race, we put everything back together and reached the finish line as winners.
We can only thank Tato Racing and Classic Raid Assistance for giving us the opportunity to win this very special event.
Salvador Fernández y Esther Pagès
