Andrea Schiumarini returning to Dakar Rally in 2024

Andrea Schiumarini will return to the Dakar Rally in 2024, driving a Century CR6 with Andrea Succi as his navigator. The effort will be fielded by TH-Trucks.

“Let’s say that it is difficult to remove the sand of that race from your helmet and the desire to experience the Dakar adventure is always around the corner,” wrote Schiumarini. “I thought number 4 was a nice way to enter a new chapter in my sporting history. But, at the same time, I wanted to be there with those who shared part of this journey of mine. Here is the Andrea Schiumarini and Andrea Succi team, alias AS2, ready to take this beautiful Century CR6 among the dunes of Saudi Arabia to the Dakar 2024.”

Schiumarini made his Dakar début in 2019, driving a Ford Raptor to an overall finish of fifty-fourth and third in the T2 category. He moved up to T1 in 2020, placing fifty-third overall in a Mitsubishi Pajero. His most recent Dakar in 2022, racing a T2-spec Pajero that received significant upgrades to comply with T1 regulations, ended with a seventy-first in the general ranking.

He did not return to the race in 2023 as he instead prioritised amateur events. Schiumarini planned to run the Africa Eco Race in March before it was postponed to January 2024, where it will clash with the Dakar Rally, so he flipped over to the Morocco Desert Challenge in April. Schiumarini was no stranger to Morocco, having competed in the 2012 Tuareg Rallye where he finished third.

Racing his Pajero, Schiumarini was set back by turbo issues in Stage #5 due to intense heat, but was able to rejoin the race the following day. He finished thirty-first overall.

Century Racing fielded ten cars at the 2023 Dakar Rally, all of which were the CR6 line including two turbocharged models. The CR6 will likely remain the most common Century car in the 2024 edition, though the team débuted the new CR7 earlier in October.

The 2024 Dakar Rally begins on 5 January.