2023 will be a major year for Rebecca Busi‘s career as she makes her début in the Dakar Rally, kicking off her quest for the World Rally-Raid Championship. Barring no midseason changes, she will compete in the T4 category for all five rounds.
Busi competed at the adjacent Dakar Classic in 2022, where she finished 114th in a 1992 Land Rover Range Rover. Despite not having much rally raid experience, previously working as a crew member at events like the Baja Aragón in Spain, she elected to pour her resources into the Dakar effort. At the age of 25, she became the youngest Italian to compete at Dakar.
For 2023, she will race the #447 Can-Am Maverick in T4 for HRT Technology Team. Giulia Maroni will serve as her co-driver; she won the 2021 Italian Cross Country Rally championship alongside Sergio Galletti and worked with Luciano Carcheri at the 2022 Dakar Classic.
Online video service OnlyFans will be the primary sponsor of her Maverick. While the company is certainly a unique name to see on a race car, it also backs Monster Energy AMA Supercross rider Logan Karnow and British GT team Enduro Motorsport.
The 2023 World Rally-Raid Championship begins with the Dakar Rally on 31 December 2022. This is followed by the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge on 25 February – 3 March, the Sonora Rally on 22–28 April, Desafío Ruta 40 on 26 August – 8 September, and Rallye du Maroc on 12–18 October.
