“Competitors, not just dreamers”

“Races are won at home, when you’re preparing for the start”, a friend told Andrea Schiumarini. And the 42-year-old pilot has his own experience under his belt to back this saying and prepare as strong as possible for Dakar 2024, his fourth participation as he returns to the desert after he missed the 2023 edition. A racer since he started competing on his motorbike at 12 years old, Schiumarini got his first taste of the desert in the Tuareg Rally, in 2012. He has since become an off-road expert, all the way to the Dakar and the Ultimate category -he will drive a CR6 buggy alongside TH-Trucks Team, after he discovered the Dakar in 2019 aboard a Ford Raptor with RTeam. For this adventure, he reunites with Andrea Succi, also hailing from Forli, in the Italian Motor Valley. The two friends from Emilia-Romagna partnered up in Peru as they discovered the world’s greatest rally-raid. Now they want to conquer the Saudi desert.

A.Sc.: “The Dakar is a magical thing. I dreamt about it, and I’m doing it just like I dreamt it, as a private pilot! It allows me to measure myself against the best drivers in the world and to understand my level of preparation. It is a continuous path of growth and I don’t see the end of it.
This year, for my fourth participation, we will finally have a competitive vehicle, so I will be able to push as hard as I can. I would like to drive the 2WD buggy well on the dunes and get in the mix with the overall standings, looking at it with the eyes of a competitor and not just a dreamer like I’ve done until now.
I am very intrigued by the 48-hour stage. I should be very prepared as in my first Dakar, the 100% Peru, I spent entire nights driving in the desert. You had to finish the stage to be allowed to start the next day, so you did everything you could to get there. And I’m sure I did!”


A.Su.: “First and foremost, the Dakar represents a return after an unforgettable first participation in 2019 in Peru. As soon as it was proposed to me again, memories and emotions came flooding back. With the experience I have gained, and the knowledge of what lies ahead of me, my commitment to preparation is now at an all-time high.
As a motorsport enthusiast, I have followed all the editions, and seeing the evolution of more and more specific vehicles has always fascinated me, especially seeing them speeding across those endless expanses or over the sand dunes.
In the first edition everything was new and all to be discovered, but now we will start with more awareness. From Peru we move on to the deserts of Arabia, but the substance does not change. It will still be very difficult, although in this edition we will certainly have a better performing vehicle.
But the unknowns will be many and we will have to face them day by day.”