“A continuation of our passion”
CREW FACTS
U.B.
- The Dakar Classic, and especially the 2024 edition, made Ugo Bullesi's dreams come true as he successfully participated in the biggest off-road adventure, alongside his life partner Myriam Manzoni, and the duo made it to the final podium (52nd).
- How could Ugo say no when Myriam pushed to return in 2025? Elated with their first, the two Italian rally-raid enthusiasts are back with the Mitsubishi Pajero - nicknamed “the Pillar” - they bought in the summer of 2022 and that already got them through the Saudi desert in January 2024.
- Going up on the final podium will once again be their main goal, with a natural focus on “consistency and reliability” but ambitions come with the experience: “why not win a stage?”
2025 AMBITIONS
U.B.: “The Dakar Classic is an opportunity to participate in this fantastic event for people like us who do it for passion but for whom it is not a job. It opens opportunities because it is easier and cheaper. It introduces you to the world of motorsport and can take you to the real Dakar, why not?
When I was a child, I saw the Dakar in Africa thinking that one day I would be there... Now we will be in Arabia for the second time, and I am living a double dream: participating in the Dakar with one of my favorite cars, my inseparable Mitsubishi Pajero. But for me the best thing is to be able to share this adventure with my co-driver who is my life partner.
The goal is still to get to the end, to get on the podium with the beautiful finisher medal around my neck, and maybe with an even better placing, who knows. Surely, as our friend Rudy Briani said when we told him we had decided to do it again: ‘When you get there, it's always a race. You go, you see how things go, and then the competitive spirit kicks in.’
On the other side there's Valentino Bombelli, our mechanic, who says: 'Go slowly, be careful not to break the car!' In the Dakar, consistency and reliability are the most important things.”
M.M.: “Between the two of us, I'm the one who pushed harder for this and also to come back to do our second Dakar Classic. Since I was young I've always had an adventurous spirit: my dream was to participate in the Camel Trophy. Our shared passion for off-road led us to meet people who had already participated in the Dakar, like Rudy Briani, Stefano Calzi, Silvio and Tito Totani and with the Dakar, we thought: why don't we try it too? We did the first one and finished it. And now we're still here and we'll go until the end of the next one! It will be an incredible adventure again.
We will fight to get better results, but what we hope for the most is to get to the end, get on the podium and collect our second Dakar finisher medal…and why not win one stage. This will just be a continuation of our passion.”
