Always rocking a cowboy hat in the paddock, Arturo Merzario was a relatively big personality in 1970s endurance racing as a top driver for Ferrari and Alfa Romeo before competing in Formula One. His first F1 team-mate was Jacky Ickx, who went on to win the 1983 Paris–Dakar Rally and has since become closely affiliated with the legendary rally raid.
In 2024, Merzario will try his hand at Dakar for the first time, though in the adjacent Dakar Classic, with backing from Swiss team Desert Endurance Motorsport.
“I had promised myself to participate in the Dakar in my career, and here I am, albeit in the Classic version,” Merzario stated. “But it will be a great emotion. Space (in racing) is being made for young people, and I still have many programmes ahead of me. I thank Ermanno (De Angelis) and Nunzia (Del Gaudio) for the opportunity, it will be an exciting ride.
“My objective? Arriving on stage and receiving the coveted medal from friend/foe Jacky Ickx.”
Merzario began his career in sports cars and hillclimbing, winning the 1972 1000 Kilometres of Spa and Targa Florio as well as finishing runner-up in the 1973 24 Hours of Le Mans. Much of his sports car success came with factory backing from Ferrari, who hired him for their F1 programme in 1972 and 1973. He later raced for Frank Williams’ preceding namesake team, March, and his own outfit though did not score any points outside of Ferrari and Williams. Merzario scored eleven points in his eight-year F1 career with his highest runs being trio of fourths in the 1973 Brazilian and South African Grands Prix for Ferrari and the 1974 Italian GP for Williams. He worked with Ickx at Ferrari, and ironically replaced him at Williams (which became Wolf-Williams) midway through the 1976 season.
At the 1976 German Grand Prix, his first race since taking over the Williams ride from Ickx, Merzario helped save Niki Lauda‘s life when he stopped his race to join Harald Ertl and Brett Lunger in pulling him out of his burning car. Lauda later gifted him a Rolex watch after returning to racing, though it took time for them to build a rapport. The two remained friendly until Lauda’s passing in 2019.
When his F1 career ended in 1979, Merzario focused on sports cars again and continued to enjoy strong runs like taking the 1985 Italian Prototype Championship and winning races in domestic and global GT competition well into his sixties. Even at 79 years old, he is still involved in historic motorsport and won his class in the 2017 Spa Six Hours.
Rally raid will be a new foray for Merzario in contrast to his pavement background, though the Classic is different from the main Dakar Rally in that it is a navigation-based event for historic vehicles. Desert Endurance Motorsport fielded four entries in the 2023 Classic with a pair of IVECO trucks driven by Simonato Giuseppe Francesco and Brendolan Stefano, along with two Fiat Pandas for Guasti Francesco and Marco Ernesto Leva. All four completed the race, with Simonato Giuseppe Francesco finishing tenth in the Truck class and one spot ahead of Stefano, while Guasti Francesco was seventh in H0 and Leva eighth.
“It was a record for us this year with our first participation in the Dakar Classic with two trucks and two Fiat Pandas all reaching the finish line, a result that enters Dakar history, but the bar of objectives must always be raised,” said De Angelis, who co-owns Desert Endurance Motorsport with Del Gaudio. “The novelty of the next edition is the participation of the champion Arturio Merzario for our team, a unique opportunity to finally see him at the start of the Dakar. We are already excited to be included in the history of the great champion. I cannot be excited for anything else.”