Rally Raid
Ignacio Casale is back on a quad again for Dakar 2020 and gunning for glory
Can quad legend Ignacio Casale beat the best and take his third Dakar Rally title on his return to the class in January?
Category
Casale will be racing a potent Yamaha Raptor 700 quad at the 2020 Dakar.
Race record
Casale may have abandoned last year's Dakar Rally, but the Chilean maintains an extremely impressive record in the race, taking two wins and two second places since 2013. This year's event was a departure, with the defending champion switching from the Quad category to the SxS category, but following his failure to finish, Casale has switched back to his favourite class for 2020's event.
Biggest rival
Defending champion Nicolás Cavigliasso has to be the biggest threat to Casale's hopes of winning a third Dakar. The Argentinean has only ridden two Dakars, but finished second in his debut in 2018 and won 2019's race, making him the man to watch come January.
Casale taking on the dunes during testing
© Alfred Jürgen Westermeyer/Red Bull Content Pool
In his own words
Telling Dakar.com how he briefly lost his love for quads in 2018, Casale explained, "After my win in 2018, I was really tired of the quad, I didn't want anything to do with it. But 16 months ago, I already wanted to come back. The desire returned. Yamaha sent me a quad, I went to the dunes and I realised that it is really my thing. Now however, I do things differently. I enjoy the setting and environment more. Before, in my mind, there was only a desire to win and that inhibited me from appreciating what I had accomplished. It killed my passion. Now, I'm back, fully motivated and, of course, I want to win my third title."
Chances of success
When it comes to the Quad class, Casale is the master, making the podium of every edition of the Dakar Rally he's finished, with only a few abandoned races blotting his CV. If he makes it to the end, there's a very good chance he'll be standing on the top step of the podium come January 17.
