“I survived the wrath of my navigator, and wife”
CREW FACTS
M.L.
- At the head of IMF Engineering, Marco Leva delivers neat finishes for metal surfaces… And in the Dakar Classic, he puts to the test vintage cars that take him through the desert, the sand and the mud.
- The Italian businessman took on the Dakar adventure alongside his wife Alexia Giugni, with a challenging first participation in 2023 aboard a Fiat Panda. The couple called on the grit and resilience that characterise Dakarians as they fight their way through the desert.
- Aboard a much more powerful Mitsubishi Pajero, they showed their consistency to become a prominent duo in the Top 10 of the Dakar Classic rankings last year. Now it’s no longer about surviving. They want to conquer the desert.
A.G.
- Alexia Giugni is a seasoned investor and an enthusiast pilot used to sharing her passion with her family. Her daughter is often her co-pilot aboard vintage cars. But when it comes to the Dakar Classic, she partners up with her husband Marco Leva.
- Their second participation in the Dakar, in 2024, naturally called for a third one, still backed by the essential R Team as the Italian couple gradually move up the ladders in Saudi Arabia.
- After a complicated first participation aboard a Fiat Panda, they showed their consistency to become a prominent duo in the top-10 of the Dakar Classic rankings last year.
2025 AMBITIONS
M.L.: “Having a more performant car was a really enjoyable experience. It has to be said we pushed our Pajero with a couple of jumps from broken dunes but the car survived and I survived the wrath of my navigator, and wife, that had warned me of the danger in advance but I didn’t listen to her.
Participating in the Dakar Classic with a well-organized team makes you appreciate the charm of the race even more and this year we were also able to look a little at the rankings even if our goal was and remains to reach the final finish line.
In 2024 we were able to participate in the dune tests, which was unthinkable with the Panda in 2023. They are demanding but fascinating tests especially when, as it often happened to us, you are left alone in the middle of mountains of sand looking for the route to get out. It was very demanding and very challenging.”
A.G.: “Our first Dakar was a bit heater skelter, last year we had the opportunity to be more competitive, not just go on an adventure. When leaving the bivouac every morning we were concentrating on the strategy of the day instead of how to survive the day as it was in 2023.
Being able to count on a robust and high-performance car helps you to concentrate better on the race and the result obtained last year was a great satisfaction for us. We are certainly not a professional crew but in 2024 we improved our desert driving and navigation experience and we hope to improve even more in 2025.
Of the 2024 Dakar, the second marathon stage remained etched in my memory, the one where we slept in an amphitheater of dunes without a bivouac equipped by the organization: a spectacular starry sky that is difficult to forget.”
