Manuel Lucchese will miss the 2026 Dakar Rally after breaking his C4, D4, D5, and D6 vertebrae in a “bad crash” on Monday.

Lucchese was prepping for what would’ve been his seventh Dakar. At this year’s edition, he finished 51st in Rally2 and 12th among Original by Motul riders. He had plans to return to Malle Moto in 2026.

Of course, the accident with just a month until the race means he will be spending January recovering. Lucchese noted he has “full movement of my body” but expects to get surgery done.

“Will have to start thinking about Dakar 2027,” he commented.

The Italian made his Dakar debut in 2012, retiring from his first two tries that year and in 2013. He did three more starts in 2016 and 2017 before trying his hand at navigating. For the 2023 Dakar, Lucchese called the shots for Ahmed Al-Kuwari as they finished 17th in T3 for X-raid.

Featured image credit: Rally Zone