If you've been following the Dakar Rally in recent years, you might think of it as a dune-filled off-road event that takes place in Saudi Arabia, with distinct classes for different types of vehicles. Motorcycles are most definitely a part of it, as are factory-sponsored teams. But for various reasons (some of which involve safety), timing is such that the motorcycles and the big trophy trucks aren't out on the stages at the same time.
That wasn't always the case, though. As with many events that change over time, the early runnings of the Dakar Rally were much different. For one, they originally ran from Paris, France to Dakar, Senegal. France was and remains a motorsport-mad nation, and so unsurprisingly, there was always a massive contingent of French racers and teams who have run in the Dakar Rally since its inception.
In 1980—the second-ever year of the Dakar Rally, if you're keeping track at home—a French racer turned PR person had a brilliant idea. You see, Jean-Francois Piot had witnessed the previous (and so far, only) running of the Dakar Rally as a spectator. Now that he was working for the Piaggio Group, he came up with a stunning idea to both promote Vespa scooters, and also keep a whole bunch of racing luminaries engaged in a distinctly uphill challenge.
Piot's idea? Take a quartet of Vespas to conquer the Dakar Rally, of course. I promise you, I'm serious.
If you're unfamiliar with the YouTube channel KRANKiT, now's the time to remedy that situation. The channel mostly tells stories with an off-road bent, and they're usually some of the less-traveled, strange stories (and histories) to be found within the category.
This story, for example, is an amazing tale of perseverance, rule bending (and breaking, in some cases), and an almost unbelievable organizational skill to pull a raft of talented motorsports luminaries into either racing a pack of Vespas that were ill-equipped for tackling desert racing (especially massive sand dunes), or else jumping in a flotilla of Land Rover support vehicles to do everything possible in order to keep the Vespas running until they crossed the finish line.
It's an almost unbelievable tale, made even more amazing by the fact that it's something that actually happened. A story of almost insurmountable odds; and yet, at least one Vespa did, in fact, cross the finish line at the 1980 Dakar Rally under its own power. I won't spoil the whole video for you, as you really should watch it if you have a spare 16 minutes. Show your friends; pull it up while you're busy blowing off steam and thinking about your next impossible task this weekend.
And remember, it doesn't have to be impossible; you just have to plan. And maybe get a bunch of your best expert friends together with a group of support Land Rovers to back you up. Easy peasy, right?
