“Back to finish the Rally”

Stefano Marrini is a businessman, a driver and excellent cyclist. Since he was young, he turned his passion for motorsport into his work: he won the Italian Rally Terra championship under 25 in 1997 and from that moment his career has always been a crescendo. He fought for the top positions in the Italian Rally championship before competing in the FIA World Rally Championship from 2001 to 2009, with important results such as the 4th place of his class at Montecarlo, or the 6th in Australia in the PRWC (Production World Rally Championship). Although he has never been a pro, this 45-year old private rider can already boast 5 Dakar participations, more than 60 races in the FIA World Rally championship, and several rallies in Thailand, China and Australia. How? He has always tried to get the maximum from a limited budget and he made it. Thanks to the contacts developed while he was racing all over the world, he has founded a bike brand, “the Atakama bikes”, and a workshop where he prepares racing cars. Cyclist himself, this year he climbed the Everest with his Atakama bicycle till the Everest Camp Base at 5.348 slm and the 150 km Rovaniemi in Finland (32hours solo at -30°C).

“I have competed 5 Dakar Rallies as a private driver with a T.2 car and 5 times I couldn’t finish the rally because of a mechanical problem. It has become an “obsession” and I realized that it is very difficult to finish such a demanding and extreme rally as a privateer. It’s a question of budget. I decided to come back with the target to finish the rally, but this time on an SSV. It’s a vehicle that requires a different budget -we are speaking about 100,000 euro versus 3-500,000 euro for a T.2 car. The SSV is easier to drive, it is very agile on the dunes and despite the limited speed (130 km/h), I think it’s a good compromise and more reliable from a mechanical point of view. On my side, the Argentinian co-driver I raced some years ago in a rally in Argentina. He is a pro, even if at his debut on the Dakar. This year we raced together in the Qatar Rally and the 500 Baja Bucarest”.