Francisco "Chaleco" López (born 15 September 1975 in Curicó, Región del Maule, Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

) is a Rally-Cross-Enduro

Enduro

Enduro is a form of motorcycle sport run on courses that are predominantly off-road. Enduro consists of many different obstacles and challenges...

 motorcycle rider. He was a winner of one stage of the 2009 Dakar Rally

2009 Dakar Rally

The 2009 Dakar Rally was the 30th running of the Dakar Rally. In addition to motorcycle, automobile, and truck categories, a separate quad class was added for the first time. The race began on January 3, 2009, and took place across Argentina and Chile...

, three stages of the 2010 Dakar Rally

2010 Dakar Rally

The 2010 Dakar Rally was the 31st running of the event. It was held in South America for the second successive time, and ran from 1 to 16 January...

 finishing third overall, and one stage in the 2011 Dakar Rally

2011 Dakar Rally

The 2011 Dakar Rally was the 32nd running of the event. It was held in Argentina and Chile for the third successive time, and ran from 1 to 16 January...

 finishing fourth overall.

López began riding motorcycles at 4 years of age through the encouragement of his father Renato López, a national motocross champion. His nickname Chaleco comes from the Spanish for vest, particularly the vest used for race protection.

Career

In 1989 López came first in the Latin American Motocross

Motocross

Motocross is a form of motorcycle sport or all-terrain vehicle racing held on enclosed off road circuits. It evolved from trials, and was called scrambles, and later motocross, combining the French moto with cross-country...

 Championship in the 85cc class, which resulted in him becoming an official Honda

Honda

is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...

 rider. Between 1990 and 1994 he competed in the Chilean National Motocross Championship 125cc category, and was placed twice and won twice, and between 1995 and 2000 in the 250cc category of the same competition was placed once and won five times. He also won the Latin American Supercross Championship in 1998.
In 2001 López became the first Chilean rider to receive a gold medal in the Six Days of France competition at Brive-la-Gaillarde

Brive-la-Gaillarde

Brive-la-Gaillarde is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture of the Corrèze department. The population of the urban area was 89,260 as of 1999. Although it is by far the biggest commune in Corrèze, the capital is Tulle.-History:...

. The following year he rode in the 250cc four-stroke endurance world championship in Finland, gaining eighth place. He finished tenth overall in the 500cc four-stroke category in the same event in 2003. After a gold medal in the 2003 Six Days of Brazil competition at Fortaleza

Fortaleza

Fortaleza is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeastern Brazil. With a population close to 2.5 million , Fortaleza is the 5th largest city in Brazil. It has an area of and one of the highest demographic densities in the country...

 he was named as "best rider of year" by Chilean sports' journalists.

In 2004 he was national runner-up in super enduro, and participated again in the National Motocross Championship, and in Supermotard competitions. The following year he made his competitive debut in the Patagonia-Atacama Rally, withdrew through mechanical problems after winning the fourth stage, but finished in fourth position overall. He also debuted at the National Championship Motocross Entel, coming second in the 250cc category.

In 2006 López was placed first in the 450cc category of Patagonia-Atacama Rally, second in the d'Italia Sardegna Rally

Rally d'Italia Sardegna

The Rally d'Italia Sardegna is a rally competition that has been a round of the World Rally Championship schedule and also the Intercontinental Rally Challenge . The rally is held on narrow, twisty, sandy and bumpy mountain roads around the town of Porto Cervo...

 (Italy), and second in the 450cc category of the Morocco Rally.

He participated for the first time in the Dakar Rally

2007 Dakar Rally

The 2007 Dakar Rally was the 29th running of the event. It started in Lisbon, Portugal on 6 January and ran through Europe and Africa until 21 January 2007.-Entrants:...

 in 2007 but had to withdraw during the race. Dakar 2008

2008 Dakar Rally

The 2008 Dakar Rally would have been the 30th running of the annual off-road race. The rally was to start in Lisbon, Portugal on 5 January 2008, running through Europe and Africa until the finish in Dakar, Senegal on 20 January...

 was cancelled as a competition and replaced by an alternative, the Central Europe Rally

Central Europe Rally

The Central Europe Rally was a rally-raid endurance race held in Romania and Hungary. It was held in 2008 as a replacement for the canceled 2008 Dakar Rally...

, in which López came second. He returned to Dakar in 2009

2009 Dakar Rally

The 2009 Dakar Rally was the 30th running of the Dakar Rally. In addition to motorcycle, automobile, and truck categories, a separate quad class was added for the first time. The race began on January 3, 2009, and took place across Argentina and Chile...

, winning the first stage and finishing seventh overall. The same year he was placed third in the Tunisia Rally.
In the 2010 Dakar Rally

2010 Dakar Rally

The 2010 Dakar Rally was the 31st running of the event. It was held in South America for the second successive time, and ran from 1 to 16 January...

 he won the fifth, eighth and twelfth stage, was awarded first place in the 450cc category and third place overall. His Dakar third place, a position shared with his compatriot Carlo de Gavardo

Carlo de Gavardo

Carlo de Gavardo Prohens is a Chilean motorist and motorcyclist who has participated in numerous rallies worldwide, including the Rallye Dakar and Rallye des Pharaons...

 who competed in the 2001 Dakar Rally

2001 Dakar Rally

2001 Dakar Rally also known as the 2001 Paris-Dakar Rally was the 23rd running of the Dakar Rally event. The format was revised to reduce the amount of airborne assistance to competitors in favour of assistance vehicles...

, is the highest placing of a Latin American

Latin Americans

Latin Americans are the citizens of the Latin American countries and dependencies. Latin American countries are multi-ethnic, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds. As a result, some Latin Americans don't take their nationality as an ethnicity, but identify themselves with...

 at Dakar.

Honours

Year	Tournament	Result
1989	Latin American Motocross Championship	1st
1990	National Motocross Championship(125cc.)	2nd
1991		1st
1992		3rd
1993		1st
1994
1995	National Motocross Championship (250cc.)	2nd
1996		1st
1997
1998
1998	Latin American Supercross Championship
1999	National Motocross Championship (250cc.)
2000
2001	Six Days of France	Gold medal
2003	Six Days of Brazil
2006	Patagonia–Atacama Rally	1st
	d'Italia Sardegna Rally	2nd
	Morocco Rally (450cc.)
2008	Central Europe Rally	2nd
2009	Tunisia Rally	3rd
2010	Dakar Rally
2010	Tunisia Rally	1st

External links

• Official website (Spanish)