Andre Villas-Boas to drive in Dakar Rally after quitting Shanghai SIPG

Former Chelsea and Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas has quit his post at Shanghai SIPG and will drive in the Dakar Rally from January.

The Portuguese coach resigned from his post with the Chinese club after a year in charge and immediately announced he would take part in the two-week race, which starts on January 6.



Villas-Boas, who has also managed Porto and Zenit St Petersburg, is following a family tradition after his uncle Pedro drove in the event in 1982.

He is not the first celebrity to take part. French rocker Johnny Hallyday raced in 2002. Prince Albert of Monaco competed twice and his sister Princess Caroline once.

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“I spoke with my friend Alex Doringer, the manager of the KTM team, who told me that I would still need a full year’s preparation to get there and that it was better to consider doing it with a car,” AVB told the Dakar Rally website.

“So I got in touch with Team Overdrive and here I am!”

The rally’s website reported that Villas-Boas was an enthusiastic dirt biker as a teenager in Oporto and competed regularly in the Portuguese off-road championships.

Villas-Boas turned 40 in October and said that he had thought of celebrating by riding in the 40th Dakar but then changed his mind after talking to one of the motorbike teams.