“Winning the Dakar, the dream I'm still chasing”
CREW FACTS
G.F.
- Gerard Farrés embodies the legendary archetype of a Dakar competitor. His capacity for sacrifice, teamwork, generosity, and readiness to help anyone he comes across, if the occasion allows, has left an impression on the bivouac for many years.
- The Manresa native will compete in his 18th Dakar after his debut on a motorbike in 2006, in Africa, when he was the best rookie of the 119 riders.
- He was a support rider for Marc Coma and Chaleco López, from whom he learned the law of the desert, and in 2017, he made history, finishing third with the privateer Spanish team Himoinsa in a nearly impossible feat.
- He switched to four wheels in 2019, when he finished second overall in SSV. Since then, he has achieved another podium result (2022, when he arrived as the virtual winner until the last metres of the rally) and five stage victories.
- He also runs a co-pilot representation agency.
- This year, he changed teams with the Pedregá Team with the target of continuing to fight in the general classification, again in an all-Spanish squad.
T.V.
- The Ibiza native Toni Vingut leaves behind his five editions in the quad category, with a personal best sixth place in 2023.
- He has a wealth of experience in quad cross and jet skiing and has seen it all on the world's toughest rally.
- In 2024, he retired after a hard fall in which he fractured several ribs, vertebrae, the sacrum and his right arm on the way to Shubaytah.
- During the week he works in the mechanical service of a power plant.
- His debut as co-driver will come in the days leading up to his sixth Dakar, which he will do alongside his friend Gerard Farrés.
AMBITIONS 2025
G. F: “For 2025, I have decided to trust the Pedregá Team, which, together with José Vidaña, has strongly committed to SSVs in recent years. It will be a two-year project, and in this Dakar, we will have an entirely new team and new co-driver - Toni Vingut - but, although we know we will have to work hard as a team and go from strength to strength, it is a very nice challenge with an all-Spanish team, and I am pleased about that. Though we couldn't fight until the end for the victory last year, we did some good stages in the top 3, and that's what we're happy with. I would never have thought I would do 18 Dakars, let alone six in SSV with two podiums. I'm very satisfied on four wheels, but I want to go further and fight for victories and win the Dakar, which is the dream I'm still pursuing. We have the potential to fight, but we have to see where the factory cars will be. We will take it day by day and with the conviction that if we compete and do things properly, we will be happy, no matter what happens.”
T.V.: “I was so much looking forward to it last year, but on stage 5, I had a nasty crash. It was an unbearable day for me, and when I was crossing a dune, I realised another dune was cut off next to it, and I went airborne. Although I managed to land, the quad bounced, and I took a massive hit. I've been rehabbing all year, and I am still trying to figure out how I managed to get second place in the Baja Aragon. But the Dakar discontinued the quad category, and I had to reinvent myself. I am excited to make my debut as Gerard Farrés' co-driver. I admire him and think I will learn a lot from him. I'm sure we'll understand each other because we've both ridden alone for many editions. I will debut alongside him in the prologue of the 2025 Dakar, and although I'm a bit uncertain about what's new, I'm sure I'll do my best, and I'm confident that everything will go well. I want to thank all the sponsors who have supported me through thick and thin and responded very well this year despite the circumstances.”
