"We're still struggling to reach the finish line "
CREW FACTS
U.M.
- Urvo Männama is a huge motorsport fan who has been competing offroad alongside his cousin Risto Lepik since the mid-2000s.
- The 36-year-old discovered rally-raid a few years ago, getting a car and lots of helpful advice from Lithuanian star Benediktas Vanagas. He set up his own team, Rally Raid Estonia, and embarked on a three-year project to participate in his maiden Dakar in 2023. That year, he and Risto became the first Estonians to do the Dakar in the top class.
- So far it's two abandons in two participations. A broken gearbox stopped their Toyota Hilux in its tracks in 2023 (on Stage 11), while their new Century CR7 caught fire and burned down while their mechanics were testing it overnight in 2024 (before Stage 8).
- For Dakar 2025, the ambitious Urvo has joined the prestigious Overdrive Racing team. He is back in a Toyota Hilux and hopeful of completing the rally inside the top 20 overall.
R.L.
- Risto has been involved in motorsport "since he was a child" and has been racing with Urvo for around 20 years. The cousins say their relationship in the car is like "a well-oiled machine".
- The duo have only taken part in one event this year, winning the MudEST Rally Raid back home in Estonia. They competed in a Can-Am Maverick R borrowed from Urvo's brother.
2025 AMBITIONS
U.M.: "The fire happened at like 2am or something, when we were still asleep. They waited until 6 or 6.30 in the morning to tell us - a nice wake-up call! We took a gamble, and sometimes gambles don't pay off. It was really promising in the beginning, for the first 300km of the first stage we had really nice pace, but then things started to go wrong. On the first stage we lost the front-left wheel, then on the second stage we lost the front-right wheel. We eventually restarted on the fifth stage, just thinking about getting more mileage and experience. Despite a broken driveshaft that was the first stage we actually finished! Going into the 48h Chrono stage knowing we hadn't finished many days, into this complete craziness in the Empty Quarter, was a bit scary for us. Then we had a rest day and ran into trouble again right out of the bivouac on Stage 7. We had no time to refuel, which meant driving at 60-70% speed. And then we woke up for Stage 8 and they basically said there is no car anymore! After that you go home and you go through phases of mourning, it was up and down. There was lots of soul searching and debating.
This year we are going with Toyota as part of the main Overdrive Racing team, not just as customers on the side. We hope we are in good hands. We still want to finish ideally in the top 20 and avoid mistakes. We know we are definitely capable of reaching those goals, we've just been unlucky, always battling with mechanical issues. The plan for me is just to be a driver. This is our third Dakar, and the original plan was to be fighting for the top 10 by now. Instead, we're still struggling to reach the finish line. What I've learned is that I have so much more respect for the rally itself."
R.L.: "Last year we thought we were smarter than in 2023, and we knew how to get to the finish line. We have our plans, but you know, the Dakar has its own plans. After doing Dakar with our own small team, this year we are trying with Overdrive. Otherwise, all the aims are the same: to finish and come home inside the top 20. That's our goal. Two years ago, when we started our Dakar journey, we also had a Hilux, but for 2025 we will have the newest model. A couple of things have changed, including the turbo engine. It's similar but better, I think. Unfortunately, we don't have the car at the moment! We will go testing in November at the Qatar Baja, but that's the only real preparation event before this Dakar. The only race we've done this year was a local rally-raid competition in Estonia, which we won."
