N° 060 - TEAM DAKAR DREAM
 - RODRIGUES FILHO
- Jose helio
- BRA
- 16/03/1979
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Zé Hélio Rodrigues: "Security is my priority"
Luck smiled to Zé Hélio this year: Dutch team Honda Europe signed him for the Dakar and all of a sudden the dream was within grasp. Zé Hélio has lived many rallies on home soil and managed some very impressive performances nut the Dakar remained inaccessible. "It’s difficult in Brazil to find financing for events of that size. This first appearance on the Dakar is the crowning of all the work of my life". Zé Hélio started motorsports at a very young age and will arrive on the Dakar with legitimate ambitions and a very personal philosophy: "I’m a calm man and I hope to live a calm Dakar". Neither worries nor race for a good overall position, Zé Hélio just wants to ride as he knows: "Security is my priority". One can well see that the Brazilian won’t let himself be carried away because his expertise is also mental. "I know that you’re not the same person in the desert. I think it’s even truer after the Dakar". The only concern that troubles him is the physical requirements of the race: "The longest race I took part in was the Sertoes and its nine days of competition. Here, it’s 15 days and added to that we’ll have to deal with the cold conditions". Used to Brazilian temperatures and to riding close to 200 kilometres to really train in the close by mountains of Sao Paulo, Zé Hélio will with this Dakar start a new life.