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From two wheels to four, the step is short and this step Lorenzo Gresini wanted to make in style by signing up for the Rust2Dakar. The charity event now in its fourth edition will see him get behind the wheel of a Renault 4 in a tough route from Morocco to Mauritania, complete with a crossing of the Senagal, skirting the spectacular Lake Retba, the historic setting of what was once the Paris-Dakar of yesteryear, until entering Guinea Bissau. A 6,000-kilometer journey scheduled from December 26 to January 10 that he will experience alongside his friend Riccardo Villa of the M.V. MotorService workshop.
The first leg of the experience will be the transfer from Imola to Barcelona to board the ferry. "After having reached Greece riding our Piaggio 'Ciao' in 2017 we were on the hunt for another adventure. It's not a race. We will have to have a lot of initiative since there will be no assistance," he told Il Resto del Carlino exclusively, explaining later that, to participate, it was enough to have a motorized vehicle to be donated, once at the finish line, to the association that takes care of humanitarian projects in favor of the villages in the area.
In spite of the "playful" nature of the event, the preparation took a full 11 months. "The legend of the Renault 4 took us back to when, as new drivers, we used to race around the fields in an old model all colored red. So we looked for one on the Web to fix up. Zebra repainting for the occasion, replacement of tyres and many mechanical components, full oil fill, raised set-up and an engine with 220 thousand kilometers behind it," he explained the choice of the car model to be used and the various stages of adapting the vehicle to the needs of racing.
The organizational effort, however, did not only cover the technical part, but also the practical one, from food supplies, vaccinations, to maps that can be consulted off-line, as well as the aid to be brought for the locals. "We also had to provide lighting and we got seven spare tyres tied here and there, along with an empty canister to be filled with fuel, which, in those parts, is rarer than gold. We will sleep in tents or in sleeping bags on the car seats, then we will take advantage of some paid bivouacs," the son of the late Fausto continued in his story before revealing a detail - Since we are fond of the French car, we obtained permission to give away an already purchased FIAT Punto in its place."
The official presentation of the project will be held in Milan on December 13 and later in Faenza. For now, meanwhile, adrenaline is running high. "It will be a great opportunity to discover West Africa and make a valuable contribution to the cooperation projects of the Tavolo 8 Odv association," he said. "What did mom Nadia say ? She is worried, but we are excited about it," he concluded.
