“My dream is to win the Dakar in Saudi Arabia”
EN BREF…
Y.S.
- Yasir Seaidan’s motorsports career goes way back. After learning and competing on bikes and quads, he became a pioneer of the SSV class that was slowly but surely developing in 2013. Racing in the Middle-East at first he went on to win the SSV FIA World Cup.
- A very successful businessman in real state, this father of five children has had several lives on the Dakar. He first competed on the rally in 2014 in a SSV Polaris. He then switched to a T2 production car before three consecutive appearances in far more powerful beasts such as a Mini (9th in 2020) and the Century buggy.
- For the last two seasons, the 37-year-old has decided to move back to the SSV category. 23rd in 2023, he managed his best ever performance on the last Dakar, winning stage 3, fighting for the win before eventually settling for third spot on the podium with Adrien Metge.
- Part of the very competitive MMP team for the second consecutive year, Seaidan enjoyed the help of another Metge in 2024: Michael, Adrien’s brother. They will both be going one step up and fighting for victory in the Challenger class (T3) on this 2025 Dakar after conquering the FIA W2RC crown in SSV.
M.M.
- Michael Metge started his motorsports career on two wheels. It was first in motocross and then on the enduro scene at an international level (2nd of the European E3 championships in 2009).
- Influenced by legendary rider Stephane Peterhansel, he moved to cross-country rallying and took on his first Dakar in the official Yamaha team. 18th of that first Dakar, he moved up to his career high 11th place four years later. From Yamaha, he moved to Honda and then finally to Sherco in 2019 when he captured his first ever special win.
- Like many riders, the natural next step was as a navigator in a car in 2022. Contacted by Swiss driver Jerome De Sadeleer, Metge adapted perfectly to a new life in an SSV. A year later, while De Sadeller was injured, he helped young Pau Navarro claim a final Top 10 spot (9th).
- Last year, the 45-year-old from Nîmes returned to the cockpit of De Sadeleer and both men were in a fearsome battle for victory until the last day when they had to settle for second spot only 2’25’’ behind Dakar champion Xavier De Soultrait.
- For the 2024 season, Michael remained on the right seat of an MMP SSV but this time alongside Seaidan with whom he claimed the Rallye du Maroc. Together, they hope to finally win the Dakar.
AMBITION 2025
Y.S.: “I come from a real estate family. It’s not easy to be a professional driver and a businessman at the same time. Sometimes I become a rally driver at 100% but during the year I focus on rallying at 20%. As a child I never dreamt of being a professional rally driver. I just did it for fun.
When I come to rallies, I feel I’m alive. There’s the excitement. I love the community. You go to other planets when you come to the rallies. You see people who love the sport like you do. It changes my mood. When I go back to work I feel fresh. The feeling in the car is hard to explain. It’s super exciting. You have to be focused all the time. You have to find a balance between pushing and being patient. The difference between the results of the drivers is the mistakes.
It wasn’t an easy season for us this year. We thought it would be easier because we did well at the Dakar and won in Abu Dhabi but it became difficult after Portugal and Argentina when we thought we had lost the championship. But the MMP team did a very good job and they found how to fix our turbo problem. We were able to test again before Morocco, and we won all but one stage there and finally won the championship. I was glad to have Michael Metge with me. He's a great codriver and a very good friend. From now on, my objective is winning the Dakar. My dream is to win the Dakar in Saudi Arabia. I’ll put all my focus on that.”
M.M. : “I had already been contacted before the last Dakar by Yasir to do the race with him but I already had a seat with Jerome de De Sadeleer. But the plan was already to do the entire season with Yasir. It went really well. It started perfectly with our win in Abu Dhabi. We then had some turbo problems in Portugal and Argentina. So when we showed up in Morocco we were down the standings and we needed to win with a good margin. We managed a great rally in a very tricky race with a lot of navigation and tough conditions due to the rain in the past weeks. We managed to win and Yasir is the W2RC champion. I’m happy to have been able to help him claim the crown”.
