Eduard Pons aspires to compete at the Dakar Rally in 2024. To prepare him for the endeavour, he intends to run the full 2023 World Rally-Raid Championship schedule, driving a Can-Am Maverick X3 in the T3 category alongside co-driver Mónica Plaza for his PONS Rallysport team in partnership with South Racing Can-Am.
The first race of his 2023 W2RC calendar was the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in late February to March, where he was marred by fuel issues throughout the rally but managed to finish twelfth overall in class and the fifth-best team not competing for points. Despite not running for the W2RC, he plans to race the remaining three rounds at the Sonora Rally in April, the Desafío Ruta 40 in late August, and the Rallye du Maroc in October.
He will also enter cross-country rally events like the Baja Aragón España in June. He has competed in the discipline since 2019, finishing fourth in the 2022 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas T4 standings.
Pons primarily competes in the Spanish Gravel Rally Championship, winning the senior trophy in 2018 and 2019 while placing second in the 2021 standings; he has also claimed four straight Catalan Rally Championships since 2019. He was to compete in last weekend’s Rally Serras de Fafe e Felgueiras, a European Rally Championship round, but broke his wrist in Abu Dhabi.
The Spaniard joins a growing list of crossovers between rally raid and rally, including Dakar 2024 hopefuls Armindo Araújo and Petter Solberg.