Álvaro Cóppola has been accepted for his second Dakar Rally in 2025 however first since 2018.
Though he had prior Dakar expertise, it being seven years since his final begin in addition to the race now not happening in South America meant he needed to undergo the identical qualifying course of as everybody else. He secured his ticket with an eleventh in Rally2 on the Desafío Ruta 40 in Argentina, a spherical on the World Rally-Raid Championship; his highest run of the race was additionally eleventh on the fifth and ultimate leg. MED Racing Staff ready his KTM 450 Rally Manufacturing unit.
Cóppola additional bolstered his credentials by ending third within the M1 class on the South American Rally Race in February. He overcame early bike points to interrupt into the highest three throughout the again half of the rally with a greatest each day outing of third in Stage #3.
The 2018 Dakar Rally didn’t cross his native Uruguay, as an alternative going by Peru, Bolivia, and neighbouring Argentina, however the expertise was nonetheless one for a lifetime. He had solely returned to South America a decade prior after residing in the US, deciding to get into rally after dabbing in enduro and motocross. Very like 2025, he clinched his eligibility by way of the Desafío Ruta 40 (notably the DR 40 South; the occasion was cut up into two occasions on the time) and rallies in Argentina. Cóppola completed eighty-second.
Earlier than doing rally raids, he was the 2009 Uruguayan enduro nationwide champion and has additionally competed on the Crimson Bull Romaniacs.
The 2025 Dakar Rally, now in Saudi Arabia, runs 3–17 January.
