ANDORRA 500 
Classic Moto Road Regularity Rally: because the passion for motorcycles is for life

Just a few months after retiring from racing motorcycles, five times Dakar winner Cyril Despres announces the creation of a brand new and innovative event, the Andorra 500. A road regularity rally for classic bikes, to be held in his adopted home country next June, the event is the new Peugeot rally-raid driver’s way of putting something back into the sport that gave him so much and maintain his implication in his lifelong passion for all things two-wheeled.

Commented the Frenchman, “Obviously I’m really excited by the challenge of switching from racing on 2 wheels to 4, but I couldn’t imagine not having any direct involvement in motorcycling. As an ex-mechanic I’ve also always loved the simplicity of classic bikes and this way I can continue to work and ride with the close knit team of people who’ve been alongside me for years. It is also a great pretext for getting together some of the many enthusiasts I have met on my travels these last 15 years and make some new friends along the way".

Andorra 500

ANDORRA
The fact that Cyril has lived in the Pyrenean mountain principality since the very start of his career is far from being the only reason to hold the event there. Andorra and neighbours France and Spain boast some fantastic scenery and the kind of twisty roads just made for riding motorcycles. And with a strong culture of sport and motorcycling, the Andorran government is fully behind the project and sees no inconvenience in closing roads and providing logistical back up to support the event.

500
The number of kilometres that participants will cover over the three and a half days riding. The route, 3 loops from the rally HQ based in the mountain village of Ordino, has been carefully designed to show the very best of what the region has to offer in terms of countryside, tarmac and gastronomy.

Classic Moto
Like all motorcycle enthusiasts Cyril and his team have a particular affection for the bikes of their youth so they agreed from the outset to make the event as inclusive as possible, with classes for machines from ‘pre-war’ to the ‘eighties’. Fans of modified machines in particular, there will also be categories for café-racers, bobbers and modified neo-retros.

Road
Although Cyril is strongly associated with ‘off-road’, the event will only include a couple of kilometres of gravel track. “Riding bikes in the dirt is what I did for work. Riding classic bikes on the amazing tarmac roads we have here in the region is such a pleasure and that is what I want to share with participants.”

Regularity
“But of course, with my background, there has to be an element of sport. The ‘regularity’ component, with participants having to maintain an average speed over closed roads and local tracks will give the Andorra 500 just the right dose of competition.” The details are still being finalised but the idea is to ‘pepper’ the route with timed specials, plus gymkhanas and a concourse d’elegance. Just enough to raise the event above a simple ‘ride-out’ without making it too serious.

Rally
What Cyril and his team have bought from the world of rally is the system of navigation, with all participants’ machines being fitted with a Tripy electronic GPS road book. Much simpler to use than its paper equivalent, it brings a taste of Dakar to the event while allowing everybody’s average speed to be accurately calculated. The team are also keen to recreate the conviviality of the rally bivouac, so while hotel accommodation will be provided for all participants, the evenings’ activities will be centre around the rally village in the hotel’s grounds, with music groups, presentations by Cyril and some of his colleagues, nightly barbecues and a gala prize giving all contributing to the rally ambiance.

The exact date of the event will be announced in the next month and other details will be given as and when they become available. In the meantime don’t hesitate to contact us at: contact@andorra500.com  or checkout the website: www.andorra500.com