Pål Anders Ullevålseter (55) is ten kilos lighter as he now prepares to return to the desert rally.
Published: 26/04/2024 13:54 | Updated: 26/04/2024 14:19
The motorcycle profile will drive the Africa Rally from Morocco to Dakar in January 2025 (6,500 kilometers).
– It is always a last trip. It was also the last time – in 2022. But when I know so many kind people around the world who pay for me, I don’t say no thanks, says Ullevålseter to VG.
An insidious parasite cost him 14 kilos in weight in the autumn of 2023. Now he trains fully once or twice a day, ten kilos lighter than his old match weight.
– I was bad. Just admit it. I was admitted to internal medicine. In three months, I went from 84 to the needle on the scale showing under 70 kilos. I lost 14 kilos. Now it’s easier to train well when I’m ten kilos lighter than before.
At the same time that the Africa Race is the goal in the longer term, Pål Anders Ullevålseter is preparing as team manager for Vilde Holt and Even Heibye, the Norwegian team in the E-Xplorer World Cup, which takes place at the Telenor Arena in Fornebu on Saturday 4 May 2024.
– They are electric motorcycles, and the series has been developed by the same people behind Formula E, says Ullevålseter.
– This is both about green innovation in motorsport and the growing role of women in that there are women and men on both teams. It’s exciting to be part of the electric shift.
– But in the Africa Race you can’t use an electric motorcycle?
– No Unfortunately!
Ullevålseter says that he has a Slovakian sponsor who pays for all the fun.
– I wouldn’t have bothered spending NOK 300,000-400,000 out of my own pocket on this. But when the motorbike, service car and participation fee have been paid, and I can only come to a set table, I can’t say no.
– No?
– No, desert rally is my kind of heroin or psychologist – gotta get down there! Mette has also realized that, says Ullevålseter about his wife Mette Solli, whom he met during the recording of “71 degrees north” on TVNorge back in 2010.
Pål Anders Ullevålseter is also attractive as a motorcycle instructor, not only for those who will drive on the national road, but also for those who are betting on motorsport.
– I was in Dubai a couple of weeks ago. There I drove in front of a group out in the desert. Otherwise, I was national team coach for eight years, but I gave up two years ago, and that means I have had more time to train myself.
PS: The Norwegian team in E-Xplorer thus consists of Even Heibye (31) from Asker/Jevnaker and Vilde Marie Holt (22) from Ullensaker/Nes. She made her debut in this series already last summer when she came 2nd for the Steward Racing team. The Norwegian team is now called Team GF Logistikk.
