Ex-Chelsea and Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas set to take on the Dakar Rally
Shanghai SIPG chief has been registered to drive a Toyota T.1.1 in the car section of the brutal race
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FORMER Chelsea and Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas is going to fulfil a lifetime dream by taking part in the world’s toughest rally.
The 40-year-old, currently in charge of Chinese Super League club Shangai SIPG, has been registered to drive a Toyota T.1.1 in the car section of next year’s Dakar Rally.
Specialist website Diariomotor says the 40-year-old will compete for the Overdrive team and his co-pilot will be veteran ex-motorcyclist Ruben Faria, who finished runner-up in the race in 2013.
The tactician, who was hailed as the next Jose Mourinho after taking over at Chelsea, will reportedly wear race number 346 in the legendary event which will start on January 6 in the Peruvian capital Lima.
The Porto-born father-of-two has never made any secret of his love of motors.
He first told of his passion when in charge of Chelsea, revealing he owned five bikes and shared 12 vintage cars.
Revealing how he broke his arm when he drove his first bike in a national competition in Portugal, he admitted in a 2013 magazine interview: “Driving is very adrenaline-fuelled and it makes me feel good. It has been a lifelong passion.”
He said then he hoped to one day take part in the Dakar Rally, confessing: “I have a couple of bikes from the Dakar Rally that I own.
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“One is for my collection, the other I ride it. I am a bit of a ‘crazy head’ so I have enduro-bikes as we’ll.
“I go into mountains with the big rocks and almost kill myself.”
He was even jokingly mentioned as a possible replacement for Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear after posting a photograph of himself on Instagram behind the wheel of a 1958 MG A roadster while in charge of Zenit St Petersburg two years ago.
He took part in Portugal’s most important rally the Baja Portalegre 500 in 2016, ending up 69th on an off-road KTM motorbike.
This year’s Dakar is the 40th edition and the 10th to be held in South America and will visit Peru and Bolivia before finishing in the Argentinian city of Cordoba for the first time on January 20.
Since 1979, 70 people are known to have died as a result of the Dakar rally.
Among the 28 competitor fatalities, 19 were motorcycle related and six car related.
The Vatican paper has described the event as “the bloody race of irresponsibility.”