Mapei and Rachele Somaschini togheter at the 2026 Dakar Classic

Mapei continues its collaboration with Rachele Somaschini in 2026. The Milanese driver is preparing for an unprecedented experience: participating in the Dakar, the world’s most prestigious rally raid competition, which will take place in Saudi Arabia from 3 to 17 January 2026.

After concluding her experience in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) in the WRC2 category, Rachele is temporarily leaving the roads to face a new and fascinating challenge in the desert: the Dakar Classic. Unlike the modern Dakar, the Classic is not a pure speed race but a regularity competition: the goal is to maintain a specific average speed set by the organisers for each stage, rather than finishing first. The crew with the fewest penalties wins, rewarding driving precision and navigation skills along a route designed for historic vehicles built before the year 2000. At the wheel of a 1988 Mercedes-Benz Unimog 435 prepared by Tecnosport Rally, the rally driver will compete in a race that demands not only outstanding driving skills, but also determination and consistency, in a context that is completely different from her previous sporting experiences.

An even more extraordinary aspect of this adventure is that Rachele will be part of the first all-female Italian crew to compete in the Dakar Classic with a heavy vehicle: alongside her will be co-driver and mechanic Serena Rodella, who has a decade of off-road competition experience and has won five national women's titles, and navigator Monica Buonamano, who has over 30 years of motorsport experience and has already competed in the last three editions of the Dakar Classic.

The challenge is formidable: the crew will have to cover over 7,000 kilometres in 13 days, crossing the Saudi desert, tackling dunes, sand tracks and an average of around 600 km per day of special stages and transfers. All this with a truck weighing over 44 quintals. In preparation for this new challenge, Rachele intensified her physical training, obtain her C licence in record time and carry out extensive testing in Tunisia, learning the dynamics of driving a heavy vehicle on sandy terrain and mastering advanced navigation techniques.

The partnership between Mapei and Rachele Somaschini, which has been ongoing since 2018, embodies a combination of fundamental values: passion for sport, determination in pursuing ambitious goals and a commitment to solidarity. Through this adventure, Rachele will continue to promote her charity project #CorrerePerUnRespiro (Run for a Breath), which since 2016 has combined her competitive activities with awareness-raising and funds for research into cystic fibrosis, the genetic disease she has lived with since birth. With her participation in the Dakar Classic, the project will reach an even broader international audience, amplifying the message of solidarity and hope in the fight against cystic fibrosis.

Those who wish to support the #CorrerePerUnRespiro project can visit correreperunrespiro.it and choose from the available solidarity gifts or make a direct donation.