 Alejandro (left) with his brother Marcos at the 2010 Dakar Rally | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | May 2, 1978 Las Flores, Argentina | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Argentina | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Motorsport | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Rally raid | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Alejandro Patronelli (born 22 May 1978) is an Argentine rally raid driver (quad), two-times winner the Dakar Rally (quads). [1] Brother of the three-times winner Marcos Patronelli.
| Year | Category | Bike | Rank | Stages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Quad | Yamaha Raptor 700 | 2nd | 2 |
| 2011 | Yamaha Raptor 700 | 1st | 5 | |
| 2012 | Yamaha Raptor 700 | 1st | 3 | |
| 2013 | forfait [2] | |||
| 2016 | Yamaha Raptor 700 | 2nd | 1 | |
The Dakar Rally or simply "The Dakar", formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally", is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal; due to security threats in Mauritania, which led to the cancellation of the 2008 rally, events from 2009 to 2019 were held in South America. Since 2020, the rally has been held in Saudi Arabia. The event is open to amateur and professional entries, professionals typically making up about eighty percent of the participants.
Rally raid, also known as cross-country rallying, is a form of long distance off-road racing that takes place over several days. The length of the event can be as short as 2–3 days for a cross-country baja to as long as 15 days with marathon rallies like the Dakar Rally; with other cross-country rally events lasting 4–5 days. With skill in navigation being key, the driving skill and endurance of riders, drivers, co-drivers, and machines are put to the test. The total distance covered can be anywhere between 600 km to over 5,000 km with terrain ranging from sandy dunes, forest roads, mountain roads, and dry river beds; among others.
The 2010 Dakar Rally was the 32nd running of the event. It was held in South America for the second successive time, and ran from 1 to 16 January. The Amaury Sport Organisation and the governments of Argentina and Chile agreed to a return to South America for the event in February 2009.
The 2011 Dakar Rally was the 33rd running of the event. It was held in Argentina and Chile for the third successive time, and ran from 1 to 16 January. The Amaury Sport Organisation and the governments of Argentina and Chile agreed to a return to South America for the event on 23 March 2010.
The Dakar Series is an annual series of rally raid off-road races, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. The series groups together events similar in style to the Dakar Rally and was founded in 2008 after the cancellation of the 2008 edition of the rally.
The 2013 Dakar Rally was the 35th running of the event and the fifth successive year that the event was held in South America. The event started in Lima, Peru on 5 January and finished in Santiago, Chile on 19 January after fourteen stages of competition. 448 vehicles in four classes of competition started the event, which comprised a total distance of over 8,500 kilometres. The motorcycle category was won by French rider Cyril Despres for a fifth time, riding a KTM; Marcos Patronelli took his second win in the quad competition riding a Yamaha; Stéphane Peterhansel captured his eleventh Dakar victory in the car category alongside co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret at the wheel of a Mini; and Eduard Nikolaev's maiden victory re-captured the truck category title for Kamaz.
The 2014 Dakar Rally was the 36th running of the event and the sixth successive year that the event was held in South America. The event started in Rosario, Argentina on January 5 and finished in Valparaíso, Chile on January 18 after 13 stages of competition. Marc Coma won his fourth title in the motorcycle category riding a KTM; Ignacio Casale took his maiden title in the quad category on a Yamaha; Nani Roma clinched victory in the car category for the first time, ten years after his sole motorcycle title, driving a Mini; and Andrey Karginov took his first truck category title for Kamaz.
Ignacio Nicolás Casale Catraccia is a four-wheeler motorcycle rider who won three times in the quad bike category of Dakar Rally. He moved to the UTV category after his second victory on the Dakar Rally in 2018.
Rafał Krzysztof Sonik is a Polish quad rally driver. He is the second Polish driver to win the Dakar Rally (2015). Before that, he had claimed the second and twice the third place. He won the FIM World Cup three times, and is a five-time Polish Champion winner in endurance racing.
Ayrat Ilgizarovich Mardeev is a Russian rally raid truck driver. He won his first Dakar Rally title in 2015 driving a Kamaz.
Merzouga Rally is a rally raid that takes place in Morocco every year since 2010 at the beginning of October in the big dunes of Merzouga. It’s a five-day race plus prologue and a marathon stage in the desert. The stages are varied and around 200–300 km long. Navigation is the key and the competitors use the GPS Unik2, the same used on the Dakar Rally. Safety is important as well with the competitors using the Iritrack, the tracking system studied for the African rallies. Plus a professional medical staff with 4x4 ambulances and doctors on bike and quad along the track and heli-ambulance service. To meet the needs of the professional riders but also the necessities of amateurs, the Merzouga Rally features the division of the route in 2 categories: PRO: open to pro riders and those competitors ready for an ultimate challenge EXPERT: a technical and navigated route but less extreme stages as the Expert riders will cover the 75% of the complete route of the Pro riders. The Merzouga Raid: Ideal for those who face the desert for the first time. At their own pace, riding on the same route of the rally in small groups with an expert guide. The vehicles will be equipped with world track, the satellite system that allow to follow the vehicles on track in real time.. Merzouga Rally took originally place in October and then was organized in April: the 2020 edition was originally planned on May, although it was finally cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The organizers postponed it until its next edition on 2021, which it never took place.
The 2016 Dakar Rally was the 38th edition of the event and the eighth successive year that the event was held in South America. The event started in Buenos Aires, Argentina on January 2, then ran through Argentina and Bolivia.
Matthias Walkner is an Austrian rally raid biker and former motocross rider, official driver of the team Red Bull KTM Factory for the Dakar Rally.
Marcos Patronelli is an Argentine rally raid driver (quad), three-times winner the Dakar Rally (quads). Brother of the two-times winner Alejandro Patronelli.
The 2020 Dakar Rally was the 42nd edition of the event and the first edition held in Saudi Arabia. The event started in Jeddah on 5 January and finished in Al-Qiddiya on 17 January after 12 stages of the competition.
Josef Macháček is a Czech four-wheeler motorcycle rider and rally raid driver. He won the 2009 Dakar Rally in the quad category and the 2021 Dakar Rally in the lightweight prototype category, the first rider to do in both categories. He is the oldest winner of Dakar Rally.
The 2021 FIM Bajas World Cup season was the 10th season of the FIM Bajas World Cup, an international rally raid competition for motorbikes, quads and SSV.
The 2022 Dakar Rally was a rally raid event held in Saudi Arabia and the 44th edition of the Dakar Rally organized by Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO). The event took place between 1–14 January 2022. This was the third time Saudi Arabia had hosted the event, with support from the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation. The race started in Ha'il and ended in Jeddah, going through canyons and cliffs in the Neom region, passing by the Red Sea coastline, into the stretches of dunes surrounding Riyadh, with a lot more action on sand dunes in the Empty Quarter. The route consisted of one prologue stage and 12 normal stages, with one rest day in Riyadh on 8 January.
The World Rally-Raid Championship is a rally raid series organised by the Amaury Sport Organization and co-sanctioned by the FIA and FIM. The championship's seasons culminate with world championship titles in both automobile and motorcycle categories.
The 2022 FIM Bajas World Cup season is the 11th season of the FIM Bajas World Cup, an international rally raid competition for motorbikes, quads and SSVs.