Its an indication that China is looking to dominate EVERYTHING that it has now turned its attention to the relatively niche sport of RallyRaid. Chinese authorities have announced the running of the inaugural, 10,0000 km long, China Grand Rally. Its ambitions are stated to be nothing short of displacing the Dakar for the title of the toughest, most high profile rally in the world.
The English translation uses the word "ultra" quite a few times (ultra long, ultra tough, etc.) which seems likely to be a bit of hyperbole driven by translation but I don't doubt that the event will be well run and not have issues with the local "green" communities (when you have the ability to put a gun to the head of anyone causing a problem it usually mitigates any issues).
Supposedly invitations have gone out to those the Chinese would like to see show up for the event and I wonder how many non-Chinese are among them. Not that the Chinese can't compete on the world stage in RallyRaid as they have had one of their Great Wall trucks finish in the top ten of the Dakar the last two years but it will be interesting to see who might show up. Robby Gordon should ask for a big fat check in order to enter and give the event an air of international interest --his operations could definitely use the cash infusion.
Regardless, if you want to check out the website (still all in Chinese at the moment though it does have a non-working English tab, hopefully for future versions of the website) and purchase yourself some inaugural China Grand Rally merchandise you can get busy sending your greenbacks their way right now!! And you can check out the article regarding the event on the People's Daily website below as well.
China Grand Rally website...
People's Daily article...
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