Carlos Llibre, ALL1 Dakar pursue Dakar 2024 in brother’s memory

Carlos Llibre hopes to compete in the 2024 Dakar Rally, leading an amateur effort that goes beyond making his and his team’s dreams come true. He will also check off a bucket list item of his twin brother Álex, who passed away in 2017 at the age of twenty-six in a motorcycle accident.

Álex had multiple goals on his 101-item list yet to be completed that included various marathons and triathlons, with #5 on the list being “Dakar en Moto” (“Dakar on Moto”). Carlos founded ALL1 Dakar, “ALL1” symbolising “All as One”, in November 2017 to work towards the latter, and was joined by six friends: Javi Amat, Álvaro Andreu, Fernando Condo, Pepe Martí, Josep Pedró, and Xavi Pes. The project has since garnered support from many including Dakar veterans like bike racers Adrien van Beveren and Luciano Benavides, as well as fellow Spaniards Cristina Gutiérrez, Carlos Sainz, and Laia Sanz.

Amateur riders hoping to run the Dakar Rally undergo a rigorous selection process by submitting a questionnaire and dossier of their qualifications to the ASO and FIM. Even if rejected at first glance, they can still be accepted via the Road to Dakar programme, which consists of select races where those with no prior Dakar experience can receive free admission by performing well. All four World Rally-Raid Championship legs are part of the 2023 Road to Dakar, as well as the TGRSA 1000 Desert Race.

ALL1 elected to run the Rallye du Maroc, a Road to Dakar race, in October, though Llibre crashed in the fourth stage and broke his collarbone. Nevertheless, the team’s resolve continues into 2023.

“Nobody told us that we were going to do something so big, nobody told us that so many people would resonate with us, nobody told us the script would go off-hand, nor that the greatest hits would have such a point of rawness,” said the team after Morocco. “What we did know is that we would be an unconditional team, sharing a big dream and that we would become more confident than ever. A dream that is now also of you all. We have a long and beautiful way to enjoy and learn with you from here to January 2024. Because to Dakar we all go.

“Because dreams are fulfilled when shared.”

A forty-minute documentary directed by Andy Zancan about the team’s plans, El Efecto ALL1 (The Effect of ALL1), premiered at the Aribau Multicines in Barcelona on 25 January. More screenings have and will take place at the Bosque Multicines on 2 and 9 February, followed by another planned in Madrid. Proceeds from the showings will go towards supporting ALL1.

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