After three Dakar Rallies on a motorcycle, Iader Giraldi is switching to the Dakar Classic and the passenger’s seat of a Land Cruiser. He will partner up with Paolo Bedeschi, who finished third in the 2023 and 2024 Classics.

Giraldi has had a tough going at Dakar since finishing 55th in Rally2 at his debut in 2023. Competing as a Malle Moto rider, he showed up to the 2024 race just coming off eye surgery and was not in good shape, causing him to crash just two stages in.

A third attempt came this January, one again in Original by Motul. The Chrono Stage was a particularly wild day for the Italian, whose misadventures began when he stopped to help another competitor and lost the pack of riders whom he was racing alongside. He rode with two other riders into the dark, during which they encountered a camel farmer who threatened them for coming too close to his animals and came across more riders with issues until they reached their camp. Despite everything, Stage 2 was his best finish of 90th in Rally2.

His hopes of a good finish were dashed the next day when he stopped to help a crashed rider, then withdrew because he was in too dangerous territory with plenty of cars passing by to continue safely. He officially retired in Stage 7.

Giraldi didn’t plan on returning to Dakar for 2026 after three brutal years on a bike, but Bedeschi came calling. The two are Faenza natives who befriended each other at the 2023 race.

“A few messages and without further ado, we agreed for me to be his co-driver and navigator for the next Dakar,” Giraldi recalled. “Paolo is ambitious and wanted to improve on his results.

“Over these years of Dakars and international rallies, I’ve learned navigation well, and I promised him I’ll give it my all. In the next few days, I’ll begin studying and doing several tests in Italy and the desert, and I’ll try to tell you about this new adventure.

“Our car is beautiful. Paolo has meticulously restored it, and I’ll tell you about it in the next few days. It reminds me of the Hot Wheels cars I used to play with as a kid. Now I’m going to get inside it. I’m a really lucky man.”

Bedeschi did not race the 2025 Classic after selling his 1988 Land Cruiser BJ71 to Juraj Šebalj.

Featured image credit: Julien Delfosse / DPPI / ASO