“It's maybe the highest quality field in Dakar history”
CREW FACTS
RB
- With 3 Dakar podiums in 3 appearances - and 3 consecutive W2RC crowns - Rokas Baciuska has established himself as one of the hottest young prospects in rally-raid. At just 25 years of age, the Lithuanian is stepping up to the Ultimate class with Overdrive Racing at Dakar 2025.
- Rokas has been racing since the age of 7. He began in karting and won his national title in 2010. In 2018 he started competing in World Rallycross, winning the European Super1600 Championship. And in 2019 he became the first Lithuanian to do the World Rallycross Championship, finishing 11th (just ahead of fellow Dakar competitor Guerlain Chicherit).
- Rokas got his first taste of rally-raid in 2021, impressing with top-5 finishes in Andalucia and Morocco. He then made his Dakar debut in 2022, finishing 3rd in the SSVs alongside Oriol Mena. The two men have been reunited for Dakar 2025, because Rokas' usual co-driver Oriol Vidal has been sidelined by a persistent back injury.
- Rokas came agonisingly close to winning Dakar 2023 but slipped to 2nd in the SSVs behind Eryk Goczal after a final-day mechanical.
- In the World Rally-Raid Championship, Rokas secured the SSV title in 2022 and 2023 before adding his first Challenger title in 2024. He has now set his sights on the overall FIA crown!
- Rokas has raced in a T1+ car twice before, at Baja Hail (February 2024) and Baja Aragon (July 2024). He finished 2nd overall at Baja Aragon behind Guillaume de Mévius.
- In June 2024, Rokas obtained a bachelor's degree in Sports and Tourism Management from the Lithuanian Sports University. He also runs his own 'RB Driving Experience' back home.
OM
- Oriol Mena is a former bikes star who in recent years has emerged as one of the best co-drivers in the SSV & Challenger classes.
- The 37-year-old started out in enduro, winning the FIM Junior world championship in 2009. He has also won multiple Spanish titles and enjoyed team success at the International Six Days Enduro (ISDE).
- He turned his hand to rally-raid in 2017, joining the Hero MotoSports team ahead of Dakar 2018. Despite his inexperience, he stormed to 7th overall and won the top rookie prize. He backed that up with another top 10 at Dakar 2019.
- A serious accident before the Rallye du Maroc 2019 changed the course of Oriol's career. He suffered nine broken ribs, punctured both lungs and broke both collarbones, yet he might still have done Dakar 2020 if not for another crash a fortnight before the rally.
- After doing Dakar 2021 as a privateer with Rieju/FN Speed, he agreed to join fellow biker Gerard Farres in an SSV at Dakar 2022. But after doing a great job with Rokas at the Rallye du Maroc, he ended up with the Lithuanian instead as they finished on the podium. Oriol was a man in demand that year because Mattias Ekstrom had also tried to secure his services for Sebastian Eriksson!
- At Dakar 2023 Oriol linked up with Eryk Goczal in the SSVs and helped the 18-year-old Pole ("a diamond!") become the youngest ever Dakar winner. They made a dominant start to Dakar 2024 in the Challengers but were disqualified on the rest day due to a non-compliant carbon clutch disc.
2025 AMBITIONS
R.B.: “I think my best memory of the Dakar was the first one, when I finished on the podium. It was the most exciting edition because I was 22 and I'd never experienced the terrain and landscapes before. Time has flown since then. This is already my fourth Dakar and my first in T1+. I'm very excited. I want to be as prepared as possible. Reaching the Ultimates is down to a lot of hard work from me and the team. I've found a good rhythm with my co-drivers and the team and it has brought victories. Now I'm facing a new challenge. There will be a lot of experienced drivers battling at Dakar 2025, with factory teams like Dacia, Ford, Toyota and Mini. The top 20 are almost all fast factory guys. It's maybe the highest quality field in Dakar history, so it won't be easy. It's going to be interesting with all the young guys coming in as well. We'll be racing to the maximum. The team just wants us to enjoy it and do our job, focus on the race. From what I've heard, the first four or five days will be really hard. I just hope I don't have big problems and don't make big mistakes. I'm confident but I want to go step by step. Everyone wants to win the Dakar, but it's not just about the driver. It's also about the co-driver, the car, the team, the terrain, mechanical things and how many punctures you get. The target is to be top five or top 10. For a first Dakar in the Ultimates that would be really nice. In my heart I only know one position, and that's first. But we have to be realistic.”
O.M.: “My last two Dakars with Eryk were amazing. Especially our first one, with victory in the SSV class, fighting until the last metre with Rokas. It was special to be the co-driver of the youngest ever Dakar winner. Unfortunately, the last one didn't go as planned, but that's all part of the game. I'm really happy to be part of Rokas' programme again. We started together at Dakar 2022 - his debut as a driver and mine as a co-driver. We won three stages and came third, which was an amazing result. Back then we were younger, less experienced and pretty hot-blooded, so it was a bit feisty in the car at times! But now things have changed, we're older and wiser, and I think everything will be perfect. Dakar is Dakar. It's a long, hard race. It has given me a lot and taught me a lot. To be passionate, to be smart, to be calm. It's helped me to discover parts of myself that I wasn't aware of.
Rokas is one of the fastest guys. Of course, everybody is fast in the Ultimates, but I think we can manage quite well. Personally, I hope I don't commit any big navigation mistakes. And why not finish inside the top 10 or the top five? The Ultimate class is the place to be. After three years of competing in the lower categories, I think we're both prepared for this jump to the top."
