For the 2023 Dakar Rally, Sodicars Racing intends to bring in some student aid. On Thursday, Sodicars announced a new partnership with Nebrija University in Madrid, Spain, where students will attempt to redesign the Sodicars BV2 for Manolo and Mónica Plaza Perez to race.
The two parties first teamed up for the Baja Aragón in July, where a team of students joined the Plazas and Sodicars at the race. The Plazas would finish fortieth overall and thirteenth in the T1 category.
The students are a mixture of undergraduates and master’s pursuers from the university’s Higher Polytechnic School. Among their responsibilities in the redesign are to improve the aerodynamics and handling as well as reduce the vehicle weight.
“Nebrija to Dakar is a long-term project that extends beyond the 2023 Dakar Rally,” explained Sergio Corbera, who oversees the university’s automotive department. “It is an initiative with a clear roadmap on which evolve and gradually integrate new technological advances developed by university students in this type of vehicle.”
Manolo Plaza has raced in the Dakar Rally fifteen times since 1996. He was a regular from his debut until the race was cancelled in 2008, from which he spent the next decade competing in its replacement Africa Eco Race. Plaza made his return to the Dakar Rally in 2020 with daughter Mónica as co-driver.
Their 2022 race ended after five stages after a crash.
“Participating in this competition with Nebrija University is one more incentive that gives you hope to face the race,” said the older Plaza. “This alliance involves new people full of desire and enthusiasm and with values that are aligned with ours, people who want to learn and innovate every year.”