Desafio de Los Volcanes
Spanish Team Wins a Close Race
Wladimir Togumi (Photos Tico Utiyama.) / 08.02.2005
The first days of race were complicated, with teams withdrawing or losing the way. The Chilean team was the last to complete the first discipline of the course, finishing at 00:00 on the second day of the race due to problems with one of their boats.Nike Widex (ARG) led during the early stages of the race, but they were always chased by the North Americans of team Sole and the local teams Argentina Adventure and Antibalas, often with only 15 minutes between the leaders.
The Uruguayan team El Quijote were one of those who lost the route and arrived at the first transition without passing a passport control. They arrived, feeling sure they had gained some places, but were told the bad news that they would have to go back.
On the same trek team Sole also lost the way and fell from second to fifth position, a mistake they never recovered from.
One of the most difficult parts of the race was the Cerro Malo trek, going up the volcano called El Mocho. Before the climb teams had been obliged to stop for 5 hours for safety reasons and the organisers said that the trek would take 12 hours, but for the slowest it would last between 20 and 22 hours. The bush is very dense and it was easy to lose the way.
It was at PC 30, on the El Mocho volcano, that team Argentina Adventure took the lead, with a gap of half hour over AXN España Abarth, but by the end of the trek, in Camp 4, the Spanish team was in the again. Although Argentina Adventure did take the lead back, the Spanish team, led by Antonio da La Rosa, retook the lead on the final cycling stage and were first across the line.
Strange Tactics
Some of the Spanish strategies surprised watchers. As soon they arrived at the camps, they washed, changed clothes and took a leisurely meal. The idea was to show they were in control and to discourage to the rest of the teams, but this relaxed approach was taken to extremes by Francisco Lopez, who confessed to having five beers during the last top.See All Event Posts
