Michele Bini hopes to make his Dakar Rally début in 2024, and will do so with his hometown of Vicopisano in mind. On Tuesday, he formally announced a programme in which he would run the race while also fundraising for four public institutions in the area: the Meyer Children’s Hospital in Florence, the Misericordia Vicopisano ambulance service, and the Red Cross branches of San Giovanni alla Vena and Uliveto Terme villages.
The project is dubbed “Sport e Solidarietà“, or “Sport and Solidarity”, as Bini hopes to support his home that helped him advance his career in racing. As such, the crowdfunding effort he launched is strictly intended to go towards the aforementioned services while his own sponsors will cover costs for him to race at Dakar.
“I’m happy for Michele Bini, the merit of the evening belongs entirely to him, he deserves it because he is very meticulous and when he does things he always does them right,” said Vicopisano Mayor Matteo Ferrucci. “Combining sport and solidarity is a way to continue making our Municipality of Vicopisano known around the world.”
Bini is an amateur off-road who began competing in cross-country rally in 2014. His Dakar entry will be supported by R Team, whose founder Renato Rickler is a former endurance racing champion. R Team is affiliated with Ralliart, the rally division of Mitsubishi and former Dakar victor, and fielded five cars at the 2023 Dakar Rally and Dakar Classic. Rickler’s son Cesare, an ex-footballer, raced a truck in the most recent edition.
“It’s an ambitious project, it’s a difficult project to carry out because it’s a physical commitment but also, above all, an economic and logistical commitment,” said Bini. “I’ve been working on this for a year, putting together an online fundraising campaign of crowdfunding a week ago through which private individuals can make their donations. Initially, I had thought of feeding the solidarity chapter, allocating 10% of every donation so even the private individual can make their own donation in an autonomous way. All of this goes to compensate for the fundraising in its entirety.”
As of this article’s publication, the fundraiser on Eppela has raised €1,205 with a goal of €10,000.
