The bad weather emergency requires a thoughtful and conscious choice: the 4x4 Club 4 × 4 Pordenone renounces the Italian Baja d’Autunno. Official note of the Off-road Club 4 × 4 Pordenone: "At this moment, with all the critical issues that our territory has to face, we do not want to add any further weight to the Administrations, the Police Forces, the Civil Protection and the volunteers who are working hard to try to limit the very strong inconvenience to the population. So we decided to stop the organization of the Italian Baja d’Autunno, in agreement with Aci Sport, promptly informing the crews and teams that were preparing their competitive commitment ".
The last round of the Italian Cross Country Rally Championship was scheduled for next weekend (16/17 November), based in "Valvadrom", the Mosole quarry a couple of kilometers from the Ponte della Delizia on the Tagliamento river. The upheaval, due to the exceptional wave of bad weather, of the floodplain area between the municipalities of Spilimbergo, San Giorgio della Richinvelda, Arzene-Valvasone and San Martino al Tagliamento, would not have prevented in theory from making the race anyway.
"The Italian Baja has always been able to overcome any kind of difficulty in changing the route. But looking at the devastation caused by the tumultuous water - underlines Mauro Tavella - and thinking that many of our collaborators, in particular from Veneto, from Belluno, have been hit hard, even in their dearest affections, we have come upon an incredible Magone, a lump in the throat, and we told ourselves that it would be really absurd to continue this time with the race. "
"The way of wisdom and responsibility could only prevail", according to the President of the national ACI, Angelo Sticchi Damiani, to whom the president of the Automobile Club Pordenone, Corrado Della Mattia, emphasizes "the respect due to the all those people tragically marked by a collective drama "
Now, however, the Off-road Club has ignited another challenge, a "solidarity race" with the immediate participation of Coop Alleanza 3.0 which will finance a large solidarity dinner on Saturday 17 November at the Pordenone Interport (Magazzino Italian Baja, 8 pm).
Drivers, navigators, mechanics, team managers, sports commissioners, the entire organizing committee, friends and supporters of the Italian Baja, will create a convivial moment and a fundraiser to be donated to the Civil Protection of Friuli Venezia Giulia. Also present will be Jutta Klenschmidt, the only woman to have won the Dakar, who would have raced the Autumn Baja with a Side by Side Yamaha with a view to promoting the TM category, now that she has taken on an important position within the FIA in the cross country sector.
Carlo Ragogna Italian Baja Press Office
