Kove Moto’s Italian division is in for a busy January. While Cesare Zacchetti and Ottavio Missoni Jr. are taking on the Dakar Rally on the Kove 450 Rally EX, Matteo Bottino will be debuting the new Kove 800X Rally in the Africa Eco Race; all three will compete under the Kove Italia Lucky Explorer banner.

Missoni and Zacchetti are good friends who previously did the 2023 Dakar Rally together as Lucky Explorer Gentlemen Team. The former finished 47th in his Dakar debut while the latter was 11th in Original by Motul. For 2025, both will compete solo in ObM.

Bottino most recently won the European Motorally Championship and hopes he can carry his momentum into his first Africa Eco Race. Being an adventure bike, his Kove 800X Rally is heavier and more powerful than the 450cc model that Missoni and Zacchetti are using. Newly introduced for the 2025 model year, the 800X Rally has a 95-horsepower 799cc engine (compared to 57 hp for the Kove 450 Rally EX) and weighs 179 kilograms (its rally counterpart is 128 kg), though the latter is also lighter than most adventure bikes.

The Italians are not the only teams sending personnel to both races. Five-time and reigning AER Truck winner Tomáš Tomeček will head to the Dakar to support South Racing Can-Am, while two of his six-wheel Tatras are off to Monaco to support AER competitors with Leopold Paďour and Petr Foltýn.

“For us, the finish line is not just a finish line, but the journey itself,” said Cesare Galli, who oversees Pelpi International, the distributor for Kove in Italy. “Every corner, every dune, every night spent under the stars is part of a story we want to tell.”

Lucky Explorer is the off-road lifestyle brand for MV Agusta. While the company’s future is in flux amid financial turmoil involving its parent Pierer Mobility AG, the brand continues to exist to promote adventure riding. Its name and branding are a nod to the Lucky Strike-sponsored Cagiva Elefant 900 that won the Dakar Rally in 1990 and 1994 with Edi Orioli.

Featured image credit: Kove Italia