ARWC 2015 Brazil - Pantanal
The Home Team Challenge at ARWC
Wladimir Togumi / 11.11.2015
Brazil will host for the second time the AR World Championship, adventure race that attracts the best teams on the planet in a fight for the world championship title.
But despite the will and the opportunity to race at home, the economic situation in the country left many brazilians out of the event. To give you an idea, the conversion rate is $ 1.00 worth almost R$ 4.00 (Real, the brazilian currency), so the inscription was too high for a lot of people.
So we will have just 12 brazilian teams and if we talk about South America, there will be 1 Colombian, 1 Uruguayan and 1 Argentinian teams.
If we count past results and experience in international competitions, the favorite among the Brazilians is Kailash QuasarLontra. All the team members have a very good background in internationals races, including some races at Eco-Challenge, Desafio de los Volcanes and probably almost all World Champs since 2004.
The BMS team that has always been among the best Brazilian teams and is always a favorite in Brazil this year will not participate. But its main members, Guilherme Pahl and Camila Nicolau, will be in foreign teams - Godzone Adventure Team / Expedición Guarani and Black Hill / Opavanet - respectively.
But anything can happen and even for many Brazilians, the Pantanal is a mystery and they are probably having the same concerns as foreigners. Located very far from the big capitals, it’s a difficult place to get to or make recognition of land, so the advantages of being local is virtually nonexistent.
It will be a test which is rather difficult and being tough may be more important than being fast, so we could have surprises in the results.
I believe we will have a good competition in the teams chasing the leaders and here it is worth mentioning Kailash Brou Aventuras and Terra de Gigantes / Selva, as well Uruguay Natural Ultra Sports.
And is good to see old school adventure racers back to the field, like the athlets of Rosa dos Ventos and Pura Vida Go Outside. Maybe they will prove to newcomers that experience (in race and in life) can be better than running fast. Let’s see what will happen.
SleepMonsters
