Like father, like son

When Rodrigo Luppi de Oliveira, who finished 6th T4 on the 2022 Dakar, was unable to race this year’s Rallye du Maroc, rather than cancel the whole project, he sent his 18-year-old son instead. And his offspring more than upheld the family honour… He was actually accredited with victory on stage 2 before receiving a 1 minute 30 speeding penalty and had the exact same time as Marek Goczal on the last stage! A performance that clearly merits an entry on the 2023 Dakar, even if it is by no means Bruno’s first racing exploit. Despite his young age he has already been Brazilian national T4 champion, won the South American Rally Race in T4 and was leading his class on this year’s Rally dos Sertoes until a crash put him out of the running on the last day. For the Dakar, Bruno has wisely decided he needs to increase the average overall age in the cockpit and has employed the services of the vastly experienced Portugues ex-motorcycle racer, Pedro Bianchi Prata. They’ve already met but have yet to spend any time in a car together, so shakedown in Saudi Arabia prior to the race will be time more than well spent. Especially as Bruno is not embarking on his first Dakar without some serious ambitions…

B.C.: “I don’t have a lot of experience in the dunes but I’ve just been training in Chile with Chaleco (Lopez) and feel I’m really well prepared for this race. The T4 class is a super competitive category and it won’t be easy but if I can finish every stage without too many problems then I think I can post a very good final result.”