By day, Alex Torrão is an entrepreneur, husband and father to three daughters. By night – and every spare moment in between – he is training to compete in one of the toughest endurance races in the world: the Dakar Rally.
Through his campaign #DAD2DAKAR, Torrão is not chasing podiums. He is chasing the start line.
Raised between South Africa, Portugal and Macau, Torrão grew up riding motorcycles in rural Portugal. The Dakar Rally has been a lifelong dream – one that many would quietly shelve once business, bills and family responsibilities take over. Instead, Torrão chose a different path.
“The goal isn’t to win Dakar,” he says. “It’s to stand at that start line knowing I didn’t give up on a childhood dream.”
Unlike full-time professional riders, Torrão balances training camps, rally events and international qualifiers with school runs and board meetings. His 2025 season has already seen him complete major events including the South African Safari Rally, Giants Adventure Rally Botswana and Fenek Rally Morocco – critical steppingstones toward Dakar qualification.
His 2026 race calendar expands internationally, including events in Argentina, Morocco and the Africa Eco Race – forming a structured two-year roadmap toward earning his Dakar entry.
The Dakar Rally itself is one of the most globally followed motorsport events, broadcast in 190 countries with millions of digital engagements annually. But for Torrão, the race represents something more personal than statistics.
It represents resilience.
It represents modern fatherhood.
It represents late-life ambition.
DAD2DAKAR is more than a rally campaign. It is a narrative about showing children that ambition has no expiry date – and showing men that fatherhood and bold dreams can coexist.
In a world obsessed with podium finishes, Alex Torrão is focused on something far more powerful:
Proving that sometimes the bravest victory is simply showing up.
Published by: Thando Hlongwa
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