After Baja, Nicola Dutto sets sights on Africa Eco Race

In November, Nicola Dutto conquered Baja California when he completed the legendary Baja 1000. In January, he will try to complete another run along the fabled Paris to Dakar route when he takes part in the 2024 Africa Eco Race.

Dutto is paralysed below the waist, a result of a crash at the 2010 Italian Baja that broke his spinal cord. Prior to the injury, he won the FIM European Bajas championship twice in 2008 and 2009 along with a pair of national cross-country rally titles in his native Italy. Despite his ailment, he eventually resumed his career by competing in the 2011 Baja 1000 in a UTV before tackling two-wheel racing once again, using a custom bike with a modified seat and roll cage to keep him upright. He also has a team of “ghost riders”, with one riding ahead to provide a safe path while two others follow him to ensure his safety.

His recovery then took him to the legendary Dakar Rally in 2019, though he was disqualified early on. The following year, he tackled the Africa Eco Race and successfully reached the finish to become the event’s first paraplegic bike finisher.

At the Baja 1000, Dutto finished sixth in the Pro Moto 30 class. His effort was widely followed by the desert racing community as he and his team navigated the second longest course in race history. By the end, he and Dutch ironman Wouter-jan Van Dijk were perhaps the two biggest stories of the race; Dutto described himself at the finish as now having the “Heart of Baja California.”

“There is no better feeling than finishing a race, but this was not just any race; it was the longest in the entire SCORE International series, the Baja 1000,” wrote Dutto while reflecting on the race two months later. “But better than the challenge is the experience that only Baja races can offer; they are like no other race in the world. They require everything you can give to be able to finish them. It’s worth all the effort, many sleepless nights, many doubts, but above all, it’s worth experiencing it with the dearest people.”

His Baja crew consisted of fellow rally raid competitors and former FIM Bajas rivals like Julián Villarrubia Garcia, Rubén Saldaña Goñi, and Tiziano Internó. Due to the Africa Eco Race taking place at the same time as the 2024 Dakar Rally, Internó will not enter the former, while Goñi was eligible for Dakar and raced the 2023 edition but elected to rejoin Dutto.

The Africa Eco Race follows the original trail from Europe to Dakar, Senegal, outlined by the Dakar Rally from inception to its move to South America in 2009. The 2024 edition begins in Monaco on 30 December and ends in Dakar on 14 January.