{"id":97270,"date":"2019-01-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-14T02:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pre.boxrepsol.com\/uncategorized\/txema-villalobos-isidre-esteves-shadow-at-dakar\/"},"modified":"2023-02-27T07:15:28","modified_gmt":"2023-02-27T09:15:28","slug":"txema-villalobos-isidre-esteves-shadow-at-dakar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boxrepsol.com\/en\/rally-en\/txema-villalobos-isidre-esteves-shadow-at-dakar\/","title":{"rendered":"Txema Villalobos: Isidre Esteve’s shadow at Dakar"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Repsol Rally Team is a family and I feel proud to be a part of it,\u201d<\/em>says Isidre Esteve’s co-driver Txema Villalobos, who started down the adventurous road of Dakar car racing 10 years ago<\/strong>. This year marks the fourth time the driver from Gerona takes part in the world’s toughest race and adds that \u201cit is a pleasure to do so next to a person like Isidre, who is the very definition of vitality.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>\u201cI first met Isidre in 2008, when I prepared the vehicle he used to compete in his first Dakar car race, and I travelled to Argentina with him as the head of the mechanics team. We hit it off quickly and became good friends. Since then, we’ve had a very close relationship and we understand each other perfectly both inside and outside the car\u201d<\/em>, Villalobos explains.\u201d<\/p>\n

Txema is still moved by the memory of the phone call that changed his life. \u201cIsidre called me to ask if I wanted to join him at the Dakar race as his co-driver, and I didn’t give it a second thought, because he’s a person who inspires optimism and being next to him is a dream come true,”<\/em>the driver from Calonge admits. Even though he had taken part in other rallies as a co-driver, he had never competed in a race as demanding as Dakar<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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