Seldom comes an opportunity to sponsor a professional rally team in such an event as the Dakar, part of the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies. The stage, in full world view, will cover the blistering desert sands of Chile where some of the highest temperatures on the planet are recorded. GSN provides the sponsorship opportunity of the year to world class corporations, promoting your organisation through local and international coverage of a highly professional GSN motorcycle team. 

The Dakar spirit is found at the crossroads of several passions. Beyond being an impossible to avoid and unique event in the motor racing world, it is also a unique human experience. The rally’s history, the performance of some and the struggles of others, remind each of us that the Dakar is above all else a sentimental and emotional affair. The competitors are most attached to this dimension. This is what explains, for example, the survival of the idea of mutual aid within the caravan. 

A WORLD CLASS SPORTING COMPETITION

More than a simple motor race, the Dakar requires off-road navigation capabilities and rock-solid consistency. In rally-raid, endurance is primordial; the slightest mistake can be costly. This mix of physical rigour and technical performance has been an attraction for champions from diverse horizons for nearly 30 years, all of whom desire to measure themselves and learn about this original event. 

A HUMAN EXPERIENCE APART

Like the mountains or the oceans, wide-open spaces inspire “adventurers”. Entering the Dakar is in some ways like climbing your own Everest, complete your sailing or rowing around the world trip. The finish podium represents an extraordinary challenge; sometimes it’s a life’s challenge.

Beyond the standings, all the competitors are motivated by this tenacious desire, this nearly insane dream. Whether they are motorcycle riders or drivers in cars or trucks, they share this ambition, a feeling that nears. The tradition of mutual-aid, the buzzword that is a pillar of the “Dakar spirit”, born from this shared passion. No matter their origins, they all speak the same language. 

AN INTERNATIONAL NOMAD EVENT

Born in Africa where its legend was created, the Dakar is by nature attracted towards the unknown. The discovery of territories, one of the event’s reasons to be, now pushes the Dakar to head in new directions. The Sahara fascinated the competitors for nearly 30 years and in the future will, once again, become a regular meeting point. For now, it is the conquest of other continents that the Dakar seeks with the desire to surprise intact. The Dakar has always been an international nomad event. It is based on the need for exchange and on its competitors’ capacity of openness. They all have the desire to explore the deserts of the world. 

THE CHALLENGE

The Dakar is a xx day event and covers x,000km, including over 5,650 km of special. Dunes, fesh fesh sand, limitless roads, mountains...all the ingredients will be there to remind GSN team that the arrival in Buenos Aires on January 17 will be hard-won. The plains of Patagonia, the Atacama Desert and the passageway through the Andes Mountains – all in the heat of the austral summer – will provide an ideal setting for testing the endurance of riders committed to the Dakar. 

THE TEAM

GSN is entering a three-man motorcycle team – one of the largest non-factory team in this year’s event. Riding through the sands and mountains in this classic struggle between man, machine and the unforgiving elements of the Argentine and Chilean deserts, they would have covered at least 10,000 kms in pre-race training.

Team Members bring a blend of maturity, expertise, youth and determination that will provide sponsors with results commensurate with their own support and commitment. Based in the UK, GSN riders are well prepared to battle the world in this match on their terms. 

THE COVERAGE

Riding alongside the factory teams of KTM, Yamaha, Honda, BMW, Mitsubishi, VW and Nissan, GSN will be competing with riders and drivers from all over the world. International television coverage for images from the rally is broadcast in 189 countries all around the planet. GSN will also provide innovative material for potential viewers, on its own Rally Pages on the internet. To allow you to have a better follow-up of the race, GSN can create you SMS information service. Any addressee can receive information about the GSN team, in real time on their mobile phone (GSM, Iridium or Thuraya) and by email.

The appointed sponsors will receive:

• All passage times from the bivouac departure until the arrival of each stage, as well as the time difference with the fastest in its category.
• Daily Results of the “time segments” of the team with the names just before and after, and time between them. The departure time of the following day
• An average of 15 SMS per day for each competitor.

MOTORCYCLES

GSN will be entering two fully rally race prepared enduro motorcycles. Using state of the art navigation equipment, these fire-breathing machines will be able to find and conquer any terrain on the Dakar. Sponsorship will be promoted by eye-catching graphics on all sides of the three motorcycles, including extended- range fuel tanks fenders and prominent hand guards. To the millions of spectators, these competition class machines will be the sponsors’ vehicles. Coupled with strong GSN team presence on the ground, the sponsors’ image will be amplified with determination, teamwork and world class competitive organisation.