“This could be the right time to win”

The Dakar occupies a special place at the crossroads of Guerlain Chicherit's many lives. The young man from Tignes very quickly fell into the category of ultra-talented jack-of-all-trades. An extreme skiing world champion, the mountain man has shown to be quite handy behind a steering wheel, as his first rally appearances (J-WRC) showed, discovered the Dakar in 2005: 49th. Spotted by Team X-Raid, the fastest blond-haired driver in the field showed his competitiveness in 2006, finishing 9th overall. After that, Guerlain's Dakar career was full of twists and turns, sometimes too spectacular for his cars to handle. He has, nevertheless, always stood out for his panache and has on his CV a 5th place finish in 2010... and the almost complete range of problems a Dakar can bring. Since retiring in 2016 after having exhausted himself trying to push the X-Raid-designed Zebra Buggy to the finish, Chicherit has temporarily distanced himself from his beloved Dakar but has multiplied his activities. The Savoyard native now flourishes as a businessman, retaining his versatility as a considerable asset. Involved in real estate, he has developed a top-of-the-range hotel concept in the mountains. His interest in cars led him to establish his own race team. His involvement is laser-focused on the need to provide energy transition solutions across the board, in motorsports and far beyond. By founding the GCK industrial group, Chicherit is taking a forward-looking approach, which is already firmly rooted in the present. The hydrogen-powered or 'retrofitted' vehicles that leave its workshops contribute to the transport systems of several local communities: snow groomers for the Alpe d'Huez ski slopes, electric-powered cruise shuttles on Lake Annecy, a fleet of buses for the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, and so on. While waiting to introduce the first hydrogen-powered 4x4 capable of winning the Dakar, Chicherit and co-driver Alexandre Winocq have well and truly resumed their rhythm of champions. First with the BRX Hunter, they drove to victory on the 2022 Morocco Rally before finishing 10th in the Dakar, with two stage wins. This year, Guerlain's instinct led him to the Overdrive team, where he took charge of the Toyota Hilux, which has proven reliable and competitive by winning three times, driven by Al Attiyah. To add his personal touch, the new co-captain of the team, along with Yazeed Al Rajhi, has chosen the same paint scheme as the stuntman Colt Seavers in the series "The Fall Guy" for his car... And what if it does the trick?

G.C.: “If you look back at my Dakar record, you can see that I've almost always raced cars that were still in development, very often performing well but still too green to be reliable. Whether it was the first Mini, the Philippe Gache-designed buggy or the Zebra that X-Raid had bet on for a while, I was sometimes obliged to overperform to get results. But ultimately, there was always something missing to really make it work. Because in the Dakar, you can't leave anything to chance, which is just how it is. But you have to take responsibility for your mistakes, so do I always have to make excuses? Of course not.
When I thought about the 2024 Dakar, knowing that Pro Drive was betting on Loeb and Al Attiyah as part of their project with Renault-Dacia, I figured they wouldn't put the maximum resources into my car. So I went to Overdrive, and it's not for nothing that Nasser has won three times with the Hilux. It is a great car. We were often in front over the five days of special stages on the Morocco Rally, and I found my speed. It's up to me to seize my opportunity. And show that I can rise to the level expected of me. The aim is to win, and now might be the right time.”