He was born in Trivero, Italy, a small town in the province of Biella in Piedmont and his family has always been linked to the world of motors, he participated in the Dakar Rally from 1989 to 2004 [1][2][3] as well as other [4] Rally Raids such as Pharaons Rally in Egypt, Rally of Tunisia,[5] Atlas Rally Maroc and Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, former UAE Desert Challenge.
For his participations from 1998 to 2002 in the Dakar Rally, he was officially supported and sponsored [6] by the former F1 driver with Ferrari and Maserati in the 50s, Emilio Giletti, his fellow citizen, entrepreneur and father of the Italian television host Massimo Giletti.
With is best result,14th overall,[7][8][9] at the 1999 Granada Dakar, he becomes the last Italian driver who has achieved the highest placing in the general classification of the Dakar Rally from 1999 to today.
Is on the priority list of drivers with more than 10 participation in the Dakar Rally, also called Dakar Legend Priority.[10] created by A.S.O. Amaury Sport Organisation, the company that organizes the Dakar Rally.[11]
Racing career
His debut in Africa was at the 12th edition of the 1990 Paris-Tripoli-Dakar with an Astra BM309 6x6 truck from Astra Veicoli Industriali.
From the following edition, the 13th Paris-Tripoli-Dakar 1991,[12] he switched to the car category, with a Nissan Terrano WD21 3.0 L V6 T1 and with the French French: Team Dessoude , with whom he participated in the Dakar rally for 8 editions of the race from 1991 to 2000 and with whom he also obtained his best results ever, 3rd place at the 1992 Paris–Cape Town Rally[13][14] in the T1 Marathon 4x4 petrol category, completing the podium for the Japanese brand Nissan with 3 cars in the top 3 places upon arrival in Cape Town, South Africa and 14th overall place [7][15][16][17] at the 1999 Granada–Dakar Rally with a Nissan Patrol GR Y60 4.2 L T3.
At the 2000 Paris–Dakar–Cairo Rally, he was entered in the race by Nissan Motorsport and the French French: Team Dessoude , with a new Nissan Patrol GR Y61 4.5 L T3 with a body made entirely of carbon fiber, after only 4 stages, he was already in 16th[18] place overall in the general classification, fighting for the top ten when an electrical problem stopped him in the stage that led to Niamey, the capital of Niger. After a difficult and complicated comeback he managed to finish the race in Cairo in Egypt still in 29th place overall and first of the Italian drivers at the final finish line.[19]
In 2000 he also took part in the Rally of Tunisia which he finished in 23th [5] place overall, in a race marked for him by numerous mechanical problems that made him lose several hours in the standings.[20]
For the 24th edition of the Arras-Madrid-Dakar 2002, he moved [21] to the MitsubishiRalliart team with a Mitsubishi Pajero V60 MPR9 Superproduction T2 Diesel D-ID and finished in 16th place overall,[22][23] with a 4th [24][25][26] place overall in the fourth stage Madrid-Rabat, after having fought throughout the race with the Frenchman Luc Alphand, his teammate, and then winner of the Dakar rally in the following years. He was one of the drivers who made possible the absolute domination of the Mitsubishi Ralliart team, which concluded the 24th edition of the Dakar, one of the most difficult in history, by placing 11 Pajero cars in the first 20 places in the general classification.[27]
In 2003 he switched again to Nissan, and took part [28] in the Dakar Rally 2003, halfway through the race he was fighting for the top ten, but he reached the end of stage 11, from Sarir in Libya to Siwa in Egypt, the stage preceding the rest day, with the engine of his Nissan Patrol GR Y61 T3, seriously damaged, the race regulations did not allow the replacement of the engine and he was thus forced to retire.[29][30][31]
The year 2004 marked his final and definitive participation in the Dakar Rally.
1992 Paris–Sirte-Cape Town 3rd Overall T1 Marathon 4x4 Class[13]
1999 Granada-Dakar 14th Overall and 2nd T3 Prototype 4x4 Petrol Engines Class[7]
2002 Arras Madrid-Dakar 16th Overall and 4th Superproduction 4x4 Diesel[27]
Collaboration with official teams
From 2004 to 2007 he also collaborated with several teams, such as Mitsubishi Ralliart and Volkswagen Motorsport for the development of new generation cars for the Dakar Rally.
Television
From 2004 to 2015, he collaborated as a technical consultant for the live race commentary of the Dakar Rally and Rally Raid for the Sports TV network (Eurosport Italy).[citation needed]
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Italian
