Carlos Llibre is seeking a place in the Dakar Rally to check off one of the biggest goals on his late twin brother Álex‘s bucket list. After falling short in 2022, he and his ALL1 Dakar team will take their next shot at the Desafío Ruta 40 in August.
Álex died in a motorcycle accident in 2017, leaving behind an incomplete 101-item bucket list. One of his aspirations was to race the Dakar Rally on a bike, which Carlos took upon himself to achieve alongside his friends Javi Amat, Álvaro Andreu, Fernando Condo, Pepe Martí, Josep Pedró, and Xavi Pes. The septet race together under the ALL1 banner, the name representing the slogan “All as One”.
In October 2022, ALL1 entered the Rallye du Maroc with all seven competing in the Rally2 category. Llibre crashed in the fourth stage and broke his collarbone while the others completed the race; Pedró finished the highest in their class in twentieth ahead of Amat (fortieth), Pes (forty-ninth), Marti (fifty-first), Andreu (fifty-seventh), and Conde (fifty-eighth).
El Efecto ALL1, a documentary covering their Dakar efforts, premiered in January. Besides dune training, the team took part in the Baja TT Dehesa Extremadura in April where Pedró finished fourth among all bikes while Llibre was eighteenth. ALL1’s next race will be the Baja España Aragón on 21/22 July.
Like the Rallye du Maroc, the Desafío Ruta 40 is part of the Road to Dakar programme which grants free Dakar Rally admission to the top riders with no prior experience there. The ASO and FIM will select the initial wave of riders for the 2024 Dakar Rally on 20 July, though more can qualify or solidify their entries afterwards.
The Desafío Ruta 40 runs from 27 August to 1 September. If ALL1 chooses to also run the Rallye du Maroc, which is generally advised as it is often used as a last dress rehearsal before Dakar, that takes place on 13–18 October.