YAMAHA

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 13th place in the Lightweight Proto T3 class. For 2023 Mario has slightly greater ambitions as the 2024 Dakar will be the spring board for his W2RC campaign. And to maximise his chances he’s got a new car, brought from X-Raid, and a new co-driver, ex-motorcycle Portugues rally champion Daniel Jordao. A top 10 finish would be a great result but Mario knows that such a competitive class and a tough race means that a lot can happen between now and January 19th.