X-RAID

M.F.

• For his first Dakar, back in 2022 Mario Franco declared that his priority was to finish. In the end he did quite a lot better than that, running in the Top 6 until stage 5 when mechanical issues cost him 4 hours. He nevertheless clawed his way back up to a highly respectable 13^th place in the Lightweight Proto T3 class.
• Mario had slightly greater ambitions for the 2024 Dakar as it was the spring board for his W2RC campaign. And to maximise his chances he got a new car, brought from X-raid, and a new co-driver, ex-motorcycle Portugues rally champion Daniel Jordao. But a couple of difficult stages (4 and 10) impacted on his result and saw the Portuguese driver finish 97^th overall and 25^th in the Challenger category.
• He backed that up with 15^th Challenger in the BP Ultimate Rally Raid Portugal and 17^th in the Rallye du Maroc alongside family member Rui Franco who will be his co-driver on the 2025 Dakar.