News

Saood Variawa: "I feel more comfortable over all the different terrains"

Saood Variawa is poised to enter his third Dakar at the tender age of 20. The young South African claimed a stage win last year and went on to race in every single 2025 W2RC round, finishing twelfth overall.

"The start of last year was a different approach. It was my second Dakar, still getting a lot of experience under my belt. From basically last...

João Ferreira: "Everyone is a contender"

The young Portuguese driver, 26, has got his hands on a new vehicle since finishing eighth last year. He will be tackling this edition in a Toyota Hilux, fuelling his ambitions in his fourth Dakar.

"Every year, every race you do, you get more and more mature, especially when you're a young driver like me, so you mature every race, and you...

A true adventure beyond the spotlight

26 riders make up the Original by Motul field. The director of the Dakar, David Castera, a former rider himself, showed up at 9 am to wish them a happy new year and deliver a special message: "You're in a class of your own because you go where almost no-one else dares to go, racing without support and relying on no-one but yourselves. You embody the concept of adventure...

Guy Botterill: "That's my plan, to stay under the radar"

Sixth in his maiden start in 2024 and a second-week DNF last year, Guy Botterill is returning to the Dakar after two W2RC outings last season, with Oriol Mena as his new navigator.

"I think this year will be better than last year. I've got more experience this year, I think I'm in a better position in the team and the car. I think we're gonna...

Scrutineering under way with two days to go

The countdown is almost over! The Dakar entrants have been preparing for 3 January for months or years on end. Those who successfully navigate the decisive technical and administrative scrutineering will be officially cleared to start the 48th edition of the Dakar. The sun had barely even peeked over the horizon this morning when the Czech driver Martin Prokop got...

A fresh challenge for Baciuška

After making a real impact in his first Ultimate appearance last season, Rokas Baciuška caught everyone by surprise by switching to the Stock class with the new Defender outfit.

In life as in his car, the Lithuanian has a knack for swerving. Rokas Baciuška, a three-time W2RC champion in SSV and Challenger with three Dakar podium finishes...

Pedro Peñate is a class act

Pedro Peñate is set to tackle his tenth Dakar in the fifth different class, more than any other Spaniard. He is part of the Ultimate field, the last FIA class on his checklist.

Pedro Peñate and Bart Simpson have two things in common: a remarkable head of hair that almost gets tangled up in the clouds and a complete inability to stay...

Ultimate race : contenders everywhere

They know the winning formula. The silhouette of the Toyota Hilux pickup has become familiar to Dakar fans since the turn of the 2000s, and its rise was marked by a first major breakthrough from Giniel De Villiers, 2ᵉ in 2012, before the most prestigious step was reached by Nasser Al Attiyah in 2019. The vehicle developed by Overdrive Racing has become a benchmark, winning a...

Motorbike race : Sanders targets a double

The record of the last ten Dakar editions offers a snapshot of the recent history of the discipline, which has seen the emergence of solid champions from new continents, the end of KTM’s hegemony, a significantly broadened circle of major contenders, and titles more fiercely contested than during the Despres–Coma era. Over this period,...