With all of the nine qualifiers for this year's AR World Championship already held all the attention now is focussed on the 5th November start for the ARWC in the central mountains of Portugal.
2009 has been the year of all contrasts and surprises. After many uncertainties and a reasonable despair here we are touching the critical mark of success - Fifty-eight international teams are entered and soon will be marking their way to Portugal.
"If somebody six months ago, in the middle of the depression, told us that we will reach 50 teams by the end of regular registration period we for sure would smiled with a nervous tone and we would say something to disguise the fact that we were at the edge of a very high cliff.
But we are adventure racers ourselves, so reaching the finish line is our lighthouse and the wish to always improve our fuel. Thus, against all odds we maintained course and today we can say that we prevail by managing to join together the most complete and competitive start list of the planet.
The seventh edition of the Adventure Racing World Championship in Portugal will be, with any doubt, the most disputed ever with the presence of almost all the TOP THREE TEAMS from the World Series events.
Time will judge our capacity and the one of the teams to fully withstands the challenges of the race in The Land of Light, our amazing Lusitanea." Released by ARWC Portugal.
Who Will Be The World Champion Team?
In just a couple weeks we will be crowning a new World Champion team - yet it seems to be only a short while ago that Orion Health (NZ) were declared the Champions in Brazil. The teams face a totally different climate and country when they leave the start line in Portugal.
Ahead of them is the chance to explore the Lusitanea area and discover many of Portugal natural and cultural heritage, ranging from the Jurassic era to the Paleolithic, Roman, Arabic, Medieval and Modern times. This edition of the ARWC will have Check Point's in Dinosaurs Monuments, in Stone Age Sanctuaries, in Roman Gold Mines, in Moorish Fortresses, in Templar strongholds, in Medieval Bridges, Churches and Castles and in the new Wind Power Generators.
The line up of teams is incredible again - every team has been in at least one ARWorld Series race before, and the winners of each of Series races is on the start line in Portugal.
- Outdoor Experiences (Estoril Portugal XPD 2008)
- Blackheart.com.au (XPD Australia 2008)
- Buff Thermocool (Huairasinchi 2009 Ecuador)
- OpavaNet/Tilak/Merida (Bergson Winter Challenge 2009 Poland)
- Multisport.fi (Bimbache Extrem 2009 Spain)
- Quechua (Raid In France 2009)
- Lundhags Adventure (Explore Sweden 2009)
- ATP / Salomon (Untamed New England 2009 - USA)
- Orion Health ARWC 2008 Brazil
Check the full team list at http://www.arwc2009.com/en/teams.php.
