Former Italian Enduro Champion and ISDE winner Davide Guarneri hands in the towel on a 20 year international career following his 2022 neck injuries – a new coaching role in Fantic Racing will put his experience back into the sport.

A heavy crash in the 2022 Italian Enduro Championship last May, in what turned out to be an injury-stricken year for many EnduroGP elite riders, has finally forced the early retirement for Davide Guarneri.

The then Fantic E50 Racing rider hit the ground hard in a cross test in May, during the thick of the season when he was in fact leading the E3 world championship standings. It was a serious incident at the time, causing the test to be cancelled while medics attended to him on the course.

The resultant broken C7 vertebrae in Davide’s neck has taken months of rehabilitation since, all the while aiming to return to racing. But in the end the injury has proved too costly and the former ISDE World Trophy holder has called time on his professional racing career.

“The months of rehabilitation were long and complex, and in the end, I realised I could not return to the same levels of competitiveness.” Explains Davide.

All is not lost for the Italian who will take up a new role, remaining with the Fantic Racing team as a coach, passing on some of his 20-year experience.

“In agreement with Fantic and Simone, I made a difficult decision, but I am happy this way.” Davide adds. “I will be able to pursue another path, again in the off-road world, putting my experience in motorcycle development and racing at the company’s and the team’s disposal.”

Guarneri will continue collaborating with Fantic as a test rider in parallel, developing Fantic enduro models for production and competition.

Photo Credit: Future7Media