The Argentine brother duo of Alejandro and Marcos Patronelli dominated the Quad category when the Dakar Rally ran through their home country in the 2010s. After running their last Dakar in 2016, the two intend to return to the now-Saudi event in 2024.
“The brothers are coming!!! Saudi Arabia 2024,” posted Marcos on Instagram. “Seven years later we’re returning to the toughest rally in the world.”
Marcos, the younger of the two, finished runner-up to in the Quads’ first Dakar in 2009 to Josef Macháček before leading a Ptronelli 1–2 finish in 2010. Although Marcos retired in 2011, Alejandro broke through for back-to-back wins with the latter being yet another top two sweep for the brothers, before Marcos won again in 2013. The two took a hiatus before returning in 2016, where Marcos finished first ahead of Alejandro by one spot again.
With their performances, neither brother has ever finished worse than second. In the seven years since their last entry, Marcos has been a bassist for the punk band Capitán Nightrain. The younger brother has also competed in rockcrawling, racing a UTV at the famed King of the Hammers.
Argentinians have consistently been among the Quad riders at Dakar even after the Rally moved to Saudi Arabia in 2020. Nicolás Cavigliasso won the final South American event in 2019, while Manuel Andújar did so two years later. In 2022, Francisco Moreno finished runner-up to eventual World Rally-Raid Champion Alexandre Giroud.
Details such as their quads and teams were not immediately announced, though they have almost exclusively competed on Yamaha Raptor 700s. Marcos is also a Red Bull-affiliated rider.