It took a little longer than he hoped, but Fabio Lottero will finally race the Dakar Rally for the first time in 2024 when he pilots the #123 KTM 450 Rally Replica for Club Aventura Touareg in the Rally2 category.
Lottero was originally accepted for the 2023 edition, but had to abandon his plans due to logistical issues with his team. In the year since, he took part in amateur rallies like the Intercontinental Rally, the Touareg Rally in Morocco, and the Morocco Desert Challenge. He also ran select rounds in the 2023 FIM Bajas World Cup, finishing eleventh at the Baja TT Dehesa Extremadura followed by twenty-second at the Baja Aragón.
His experience also includes World Rally-Raid Championship rounds like the Rallye du Maroc, where he finished twenty-ninth in Rally2 in 2022.
With his Dakar début now set, he will finally fulfill a childhood dream. He was an enduro rider as a teenager before going on a fourteen-year off-road racing hiatus to focus on personal obligations and his own careers. Now living on the Spanish island of Ibiza after moving from Bordighera, Italy, he resumed racing by entering rallies in Spain like Extremadura and Aragón.
“I’ve always had a passion for motorcycling; I used to watch the Dakar when I was a kid,” said Lottero. “I started enduro when I was 15, but then I stopped for 14 years, and then I stopped off-roading because I’m from Italy. I live in Ibiza, in Spain now. I got back into it five years ago, with the Baja Aragón, and the passion came back. When I tried the roadbook, I loved it.
“I’ve got a business, but I spend more time training than I used to. I’m almost ready, and I want to get started. My aim is to finish. I like navigating, I love spending hours on the bike. The Dakar is tough, but it’s a race. I want to finish it and enjoy the desert.”
The 2024 Dakar Rally begins on 5 January. He is one of 113 riders in Rally2.
