“There’s happiness in this suffering”
CREW FACTS
E.A.
- Furthering the legacy of his family, who founded a company - USAG - that supplied mechanical tools to Formula 1 and Moto GP teams back in the 1980s and 1990s, Eugenio Amos became a driver and an entrepreneur whose activities are naturally lifted by his passion for cars.
- Eugenio founded his own garage, Automobili Amos, in 2016 with a dream: to re-build the iconic Lancia Delta Integrale that made rally history in the 1980s and 1990s.
- When it comes to his own Dakar adventures, Amos storms the desert with futuristic prototypes such as the MD Optimus with which he most recently dominated the T1.2 class in the Rallye du Maroc.
P..C
- A biker in the 2010s, Paolo Ceci now puts his experience of navigating the desert - especially the Saudi desert - at the service of others, as a co-driver as well as a roadbook designer for some of the biggest events in the world, including the Saudi Rally Championship!
- Ceci is participating for the 9th time… One more and he’ll become a proper Dakar Legend!
AMBITIONS 2025
E.A.: “This year, we’re moving to the T1.2 category, so we’ll be doing the Dakar with the Optimus, a two-wheel drive buggy from the French team MD. It’s a new challenge for me after I returned to the Dakar last year in the T1+. We were fighting in the Top 10 for the whole race until we destroyed the car on the last day. It was an extraordinary experience with a very professional team but it was a bit too much, too fast, for someone like me. This is not my job… So, I looked for a car with a bit less performance but I really think we can do very well with it as well.
I decided to come back in April and I’ve thought about it every day since. We’re wasting money, we’re missing our family, we’re not sleeping nor eating well… But there’s happiness in this suffering. I’ve been training a lot, mentally I’m probably in a better place than I’ve ever been and I’m super super motivated to do well.
We also have a great relationship with Paolo. He’s like my life partner in the race and we also get along very well together outside of events… It’s a beautiful relationship.”
P.C.: “With Eugenio, it all started as a job for me and now we’re friends, in and out of the car. He really is a generous person. We found each other… I’m looking forward to racing again with him and I hope it can continue for years!
I think the different rule changes over the years, especially since the Dakar is in Saudi Arabia, have made the role of the co-driver more and more important. The navigation was easier in South-America but I think here it has become an essential component of the race, making it a role as important as the driver.
I have a very close relationship with the desert, I’ve been exploring it for so many years now, and I love the desert. It fascinates me and, as much as people may think it’s all the same, every desert is different and brings you spectacular sensations.”
