Joan Pedrero is at it again. Or still. The Spanish enduro rider has seemingly never met a rally raid he didn't want to compete in. Together in partnership with Harley-Davidson, he and his Pan America 1250 have been kicking up sand and rocks at events up and down the 2022 and 2023 calendars alike.
Today is December 26, 2023. In just four days, Pedrero and Harley-Davidson will take on the 2023 Africa Eco Race in the Maxi-Trail category with the Pan America 1250. This is the first time that Harley has competed in the Africa Eco Race, an event that started back in 2009 after the 2008 Dakar Rally was cancelled.
The 2023 Africa Eco Race will start in Monaco, then make its way through Morocco, Mauritania, and Senegal. The event kicks off on December 30, 2023, and concludes with a podium ceremony at Lac Rose in Dakar on January 14, 2024. When it's all over, the competitors will have run 12 stages and had a single rest day along the way.
Throughout 2022 and 2023, he's been extremely competitive on the bike, regularly scoring top-10 finishes and even winning the Baja Aragón España's Maxi Trail category outright. Pedrero, whose Dakar bona fides stretch into the double digits, has clearly only been getting better as he's spent more time with the Pan America. Both rider and bike have grown in the capability of what they can achieve together, and the 2023 Africa Eco Race should be no exception.
“Adventure and performance are the heart of our brand, and we can think of no better way to showcase the versatility of the Pan America than entering in the Africa Eco Race. We are excited to be taking on this next challenge with Joan Pedrero after the great success we have had throughout 2023," Harley-Davidson regional VP for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa Kolja Rebstock said in a statement.
For a small taste of what you can expect, here's a short video that Harley put together with Joan Pedrero after successfully completing the 2022 1000 Dunas Raid in Spain on a stock Pan America 1250. The only thing they changed, said Pedrero, was switching the tires out to a set of Michelin Anakee Wilds and playing with the tire pressure. The experienced rally raid expert also referred to this particular event as "about half a Dakar," to give you a sense of what it was like.
