“I'm looking forward to this year being mine”
RIDER FACTS…
- Lorenzo Santolino has been Sherco's greatest asset in the last Dakars due to his enormous perseverance, talent and development ability. And he will continue to be so in 2025, his seventh participation. He finished 6th in 2021, his best result so far, and 11th in 2022 and 2023, he returned to the Top 10 (9th). In 2024, after a very good sixth place in Stage 1 and a great feeling on the bike, he retired in Stage 2 with a mechanical issue while chasing the Top 5. One year later, he is back with the same goal. In the Morocco Rally, he was runner-up in the final stage, a sign of the potential he can show again.
- The 2021 edition was his most emotional. There, after a challenging year due to the health crisis and the death of his mother due to illness, the Guijuelo native was dedicated to his mother the feat of reaching the finish line for the first time with a brilliant sixth place result, being the best Spanish rider in the bike category. He achieved this in an edition in which he auctioned off his racing gear to benefit Pyfano, an association from Salamanca that works with children who have cancer.
- He reached the elite thanks to the sacrifice of a humble and hard-working family. His father is a reservoir maintenance professional and his mother worked as a school custodian. Both had to tighten their belts to pursue their son's dreams, first by travelling all over Spain with a car with a trailer and a tent, and then with a van so that he could compete in motocross at the national level, with only one motorbike and less material and spare parts than his rivals.
- Lorenzo wanted to jump to international competitions and did so, thanks to the national enduro team. He left motocross and changed disciplines to take advantage of this opportunity. He changed again later with his move to rallying with Sherco, with whom he did his first Dakar in 2019.
AMBITION 2025
L.S.: “We have improved some settings and electronics on the bike and have worked on the front suspension and the fork. We did a lot of testing in Europe, but Morocco was the acid test to see if everything was OK. The base was good, but we noticed that we had to make some small adjustments in several tests in Morocco in November. The feeling is good because it gives me more comfort, which is positive for the Dakar. I know the bike and how it reacts quite well, and that reassures me and gives me confidence.”
“All the races I did during the year were in Europe on tracks and with less navigation. Morocco was my return to the desert. I had an excellent feeling in the Morocco Rally, with a runner-up result in the final stage, at the pace of the best. For the 2025 Dakar, the goal is to finish in the Top 5. It's not easy, but we can get there. If everything goes well, we should be in the Top-10. And if the rally goes a bit in our favour, we can be in the top five. It's a realistic target. Am I dreaming of a podium? Why not? But a lot of things would have to line up. The problem in 2024 was a pity because I think we could have had a good Dakar. I'm looking forward to this year being mine, that everything goes my way and that I can make the most of the Dakar”.
