Dakar Rally newcomers EBRO and Santana Motor are remarkably similar, almost identical in nature. Both are reincarnations of 20th-century Spanish manufacturers brought back by partnerships between Nissan and Chinese companies, while their T1+ cars for Dakar are actually just Century CR7s with new bodies.

The latter quirk means Century Racing is heavily involved with both teams, which they’ve more than embraced. In fact, Century is responsible for prepping EBRO Audax Motorsport’s s800 XRR while client Serradori Racing Team does the same for Santana. Century manager Julien Hardy explained this divide is to “keep some ‘distance’ between the two brands.”

EBRO first raced at the Rallye du Maroc in October with Laia Sanz, finishing 18th in Ultimate. Santana, on the other hand, is brand new and debuting at Dakar with Jesús Calleja as driver.

“They both have a distinct bodywork but they are essentially re-bodied CR7s,” Hardy noted. “We feel very honored to bring two more brands to the Dakar, something we’ve been trying to pull off for a while now.”

Brian Baragwanath and Mathieu Serradori, the latter the owner of SRT, are racing Century’s factory CR7 cars with upgraded chassis. Other partners in CR7 or CR6 cars include the Coronel brothers and Shiver Offroad.

“We have been pushing hard on the development front for many months, chasing speed and reliability,” continued Hardy. “The field is as competitive as ever, with so many factory teams and very competent drivers, we’re seeing a shift towards a more professional race, losing that ‘amateur’ feeling of years gone by.”

Besides helping EBRO and Santana, Century is also anxiously awaiting their second container with their spare parts and tools to be freed from customs. The race cars and first container, a 40-foot box for staff hospitality and office space, were recently released and made it to Yanbu.

Featured image credit: Frédéric Le Floc’h / DPPI / ASO