Carla Scaglioni will try her hand at cross-country rally for the first time when she heads to the Rallye du Maroc next week. She is slated to race a Fantic 450 Rally for Fantic Rally Team in the Rally2 class.
Scaglioni, an Argentina native, primarily competes in the Italian Enduro Championship as well as the FIM Enduro European Championship. In 2023, she represented her country at the International Six Days Enduro. However, she tore her anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in a crash during the 2024 Enduro European season opener in March.
In an interview with Somos Dakar, she explained doctors told her the injury could require surgery that would prevent her from racing but had a “one percent chance of rehabilitating and trying, so I took that path.” While this prevented her from doing most of the calendar anyway as she recuperated, she eventually touched base with a former enduro mechanic employed by Fantic.
While she was interested in rally (which was reinforced when the Dakar Rally ran through South America in the 2010s), it was not something in her immediate plans at the time. Nevertheless, when the offer came, she “didn’t hesitate to say yes” because “I felt it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”
With her leg healed up, she now heads to Morocco. Most of her Fantic Rally Team colleagues also come from enduro backgrounds including fellow newcomers Tomás de Gavardo and Sandra Gómez. Scaglioni and Gómez are also the only riders entered in the Women’s Trophy.
Although new to the discipline, Scaglioni revealed to Somos Dakar that she has “high expectations for this race. It will be my first experience with cross-country and with a roadbook. It’s something I’m already very much enjoying.
“Rally, for me and likely for many Argentinians, especially my family, is something very special. We experienced the Dakar up close for nine years when it was in South america. The bivouac was practically in my backyard. It’s hard to believe, yet at the same time exciting, that I will be part of the 2024 edition of the Rallye du Maroc.”
The 2024 Rallye du Maroc will take place on 6–11 October.
