Paolo Ceci’s career has made steady progress since a somewhat late start on a motorcycle at sixteen years of age. No one in the family had any previous biking precedents to steer the plucky Italian towards the world of two wheels.
His father, however, had been a rally driver and so, following in the family tradition, Paolo started out kart racing. Finally, we made the switch to bikes in 1991, aged 16, using his uncle’s Puch 125 to start practicing enduro. Three years later he took part in the youth category of the regional championship and won. Next, a transition from enduro to rally brought immediate and outstanding results. Among the trophies collected along the way appear some 14 Italian championships and various podiums in international events, although his four Dakar appearances must feature at the top of the list, all with top twenty finishes. Also featuring on the honours list is a runner-up spot in the 2009 Cross-Country Rallies World Championship in the 450cc class and a victory in the Pharoans Rally of the same year. More recently, in 2013, Ceci triumphed in the TransAnatolia Rally before taking charge of designing its route and road-book last year. In 2015 he rode to victory in the Albania Rally as well as finishing the Dakar in fourteenth place.
