SALAZAR Eliseo CHL 14/11/1954 180 cm 72 kg

GARCIA Ruben ARG 05/08/1966 168 cm 58 kg

Vehicle

MODEL	MAKE
ENDURO	MC RAE

RANKING

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Scratch	167	-	-	97	-	-	91	49	64	66	-	74	49	43
Stage	167	-	-	96	118	108	100	49	63	66	-	73	49	43	-	-
Overall	167	-	-	38	125	124	116	92	103	86	-	91	88	88	-	-

Eliseo Salazar: «The Dakar will be a big party »

Eliseo Salazar’s Dakar began on November 14. The day of his 54th birthday, the Chilean driver presented, in Santiago, the McRae prototype he will race on the January rally-raid. A car tested at the end of October in Tunisia that this sportsman par excellence, one of the most famous in Chile along with footballer Ivan Zamarano and tennis player Marcelo Rios, will drive. “I don’t want to prejudge our performance on a race that I have never competed in, but we should be able to take a top 25 or 30 result.” Used to major sporting challenges throughout his career, Eliseo’s enthusiasm for the Dakar escalated when he went to Senegal in 2007 for the finish of the 29th edition where he learned more about it from friends Jean-Louis Schlesser and Robby Gordon. «It will be very emotional for me because I know there will be thousands of spectators and aficionados. All the big races I have competed in took place in other countries. Here, the atmosphere will be special but I do feel a certain apprehension. I will pass along the message that this is the biggest sporting event in Chile since the 1962 World Cup.”

Eliseo Salazar is part of a small club of 20 or so drivers that have raced in the motor racing triple-crown (F1, the Indianapolis 500 and the 24-Hours of Le Mans). When he sets off on the Dakar he will become the first driver ever to have competed in the four motor racing standards. His CV is impressive with an 8th place finish at Le Mans in 1989 in a Jaguar and a 4th place result in the 1995 Indy 500, five seconds adrift from winner Jacques Villeneuve. He sees the 2009 Dakar as a unique opportunity for the sport in his continent. “It will be a big party.” His co-driver, Ruben Garcia from Argentine is a trained lawyer as well as a motor racing standout. He won the 2000 South American Rally championship.

Dakar start photos on line: www.maindruphoto.com

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