The Mission 1000 Dakar project with Tacita has been a great technical experience for me within a world I was already familiar with. Over these years, I've conducted various tests with different electric motorcycles, but none as demanding as the Dakar can be. The Dakar is the most extreme racing and testing ground to try and develop all types of engines, and Tacita committed fully right from the start. I found myself riding as the first Italian pilot on the first Italian electric motorcycle developed for rallies, in the first Dakar dedicated to these engines, which was no easy task. The routes of the Dakar 2024 for the Mission 1000, although shorter, were the same as the "modern" Dakar, with an extremely difficult prologue in terms of both navigation and terrain, immersed in a sea of dunes and soft sand. It then continued on increasingly difficult paths between immense and complicated dunes that challenged all electric vehicles and even more so the motorcycles.
The biggest challenge was the battery autonomy in the stages of very high dunes and soft sand disputed in the central hours of the day: all the vehicles participating in the Mission 1000 encountered problems, some stopping after 60 km, some after 80 km, and some just 4 km before the finish. Despite everything, I managed to test: frame maneuverability, weights, autonomy, acceleration, and power delivery development to float better on sand or on low-grip paths. Incredibly, the autonomy on hard ground is very high, almost 180 km, which means at least 3 hours of riding, while on dunes and sandy tracks, everything changes.
Navigation in this Dakar was very difficult and complex, with changes in rhythm and very close notes in the roadbook, which then changed with off-road cap notes, between very narrow canyons and cliffs where it was easy to take the wrong path, fearing to miss the validation waypoint, resulting in a penalty. In this Dakar, all riders (except for the top 20 or so) used the new digital roadbook, easy to use but full of many poorly divided pieces of information. Personally, I enjoyed using this tool a lot, and it performs well even during the day under the sun. However, during the nighttime hours, it becomes more difficult to read due to the backlighting that dazzles the rider.
Now, with the experience of the Dakar Mission 1000, with Tacita, it is possible to develop a maneuverable motorcycle with low weights and a high-performing power delivery assisted by the mechanical gearbox and clutch. Unfortunately, due to various problems that arose and to be able to test the bike in the field, I was unable to finish all the stages, but the Dakar always remains a great and wonderful event with its pros and cons, where the man still always makes the difference. Last but not least, I thank my sponsors who supported me throughout the competition and allowed these technologies to take important steps towards an increasingly sustainable future.
