Dakar Mag
Stage 11 | Car - SSV
SHUBAYTAH > SHUBAYTAH
437| SOUAD MOUKTADIRI
Souad is still there
Souad Mouktadiri is the first Moroccan woman to have participated in the Dakar. Today, perhaps she will provide an answer to the question she has consistently been asked since her debut in the rally-raid discipline: yes, Souad is still there and on the Dakar finisher’s podium, what’s more. Any more questions?
Xavier de Soultrait, the SSV title holder, finished 21st on the eve of the rally’s finish. The Frenchman really went for it to defend his crown, damaging his Polaris three times. Ahead of him in 20th position is a rookie,...
Stage 9 | Car - Challenger
RIYADH > HARADH
322| RICARDO POREM
322| NUNO SOUSA
Where there's a will, there's a way
Anything can happen in the Dakar, but driving an SSV without a steering wheel is definitely not something we would recommend! Ricardo Porém and Nuno Sousa got a first-hand taste of this rather uncomfortable experience, one that they will no doubt laugh about for years to come.
After five starts and with a single withdrawal to his name (2020), Ricardo Porém thought he had a solid grasp of the treacherous pitfalls of the Dakar. However, this time round, during stage 8, his journey almost went completely sideways —literally....
Stage 9 | Bike - Rally 2
RIYADH > HARADH
85| MANUEL LUCCHESE
A hair-brained scheme
Manuel Lucchese is back in the Original by Motul class —for riders without service crews— after nearly a decade away. It is a two-year campaign to return by 2026 to the peak form he had in his twenties, when he clinched a top 5 finish and a podium spot in the class. Physically, the Italian almost looks younger than he did back then. The reason? He is sporting a wig from his sponsor, who teamed up with him to demonstrate the quality of its product in the toughest rally raid on Earth.
"The hardest part of the Dakar is getting to the...
Stage 9 | Classic - H1
RIYADH > HARADH
714| JURAJ SEBALJ
The million-dollar roof
The Dakar Classic includes an out-of-the-ordinary competitor this year, one who has the most sponsors on the bivouac, including for the ‘modern’ Dakar. However, they are invisible on Toyota number 714. The map of the islands of Croatia, Juraj Sebalj's homeland, that covers the bodywork is exemplary in its sobriety. So where are they hidden?
Every competitor on the Dakar starts their participation in the same way: with the race for sponsors. The elite competitors such as Yazeed Al Rajhi only display a single partner. For the Saudi,...
Stage 9 | Bike - Rally 2
RIYADH > HARADH
127| ADAM PESCHEL
Knowing how to fall isn’t important, it’s knowing how to land
Adam Peschel, a newcomer to off-road bike racing, had a plaster cast taken off his right arm three weeks before the Rallye du Maroc, on which he won his place on the Dakar. The Czech stuntman has a special secret allowing him to keep going: he can fall like nobody else!
There are always good reasons to approach your first Dakar with some trepidation but this was not the case for Adam Peschel, who has been preparing his debut for several years but who had a handicap that would have likely been a stumbling block for many riders, because he...
Yamaha blues
The concept of the Dakar was born on a Yamaha travelling from Abidjan to Nice. Yesterday, the blue adventure ended not with a bang, but with a whimper, as António Maio bowed out of the stage from Ha'il to Al Duwadimi. He was the sole Yamaha rider in the 47th edition. For the first time since the inaugural event in 1979, the brand with the tuning forks will be nowhere to be seen at the finish of the Dakar. Blue blood courses through the veins of the Portuguese rider, who reached the bivouac on board the sweep truck this morning together with his no. 30 motorbike.
...
Stage 6 | Bike - Rally 2
HAIL > AL DUWADIMI
79| MAXIME POUPONNOT
Like father, like son
Maxime Pouponnot is racing in his first Dakar, a quarter century after his father. The rider from Deux-Sèvres, France, had a torrid start to the second week.
The sun had long since set when the headlight of Fantic number 79 pierced through the night in Al Duwadimi, nearing the finish of the sixth special. In a jumble of two- and four-wheeled vehicles, the desert was spitting out competitors one by one as they finished this marathon day of over 800 km. Relieved to see him appear, Laurent Pouponnot warmly congratulated his son after he collected...
Stage 6 | Classic
HAIL > AL DUWADIMI
724| FLORIS DE RAADT
724| DAVID KANN
2CVs in his genes
The 2CV fascination bug has struck again. Following Czech drivers Barbara Holicka and Lucie Engova, who drove a multicoloured specimen to the finish in 2024 and are doing likewise this year, the Dutch duo made up of Floris De Raadt and David Kann named ‘Team 2 Chameaux’ are behind the wheel of another. Their model dates from 1968 and the Saudi sands are proving to be no problem for it.
Floris De Raadt has never tried to fight his destiny, quite the contrary. On 17th January 1967 (he will be celebrating his 58th birthday on the day...
Stage 6 | Classic
HAIL > AL DUWADIMI
705| ERIK VAN LOON
713| HANS STACEY
717| FRITS VAN EERD
729| PETER VAN DEN BOSCH
Lords of the rings
Each year, one car becomes the darling of the Dakar Classic. Following the authentic Sunhill buggy that won the first edition, the replica of Vatanen’s Peugeot 205 T16 in 2023 and the René Metge Porsche 959 replica last year, this time it is the turn of the replica of the Audi Quattro Rally S1 that took part in the Dakar in 1985 to hog the limelight. Quite aptly, like the brand’s number of rings, there is not just one of them but four! The future meets the past with 450 horsepower under the bonnet.
Everybody has heard of the...
Rest
HAIL > HAIL
102| IGNACIO SANCHIS
Courage and honour
Ignacio Sanchís, who is seeking his third finisher’s medal, completed the first week painfully, yet suffering is what this Spaniard does better than others…
Despite being six foot tall and weighing twelve and a half stones, when tiredness takes hold, there is little to do to avoid being submerged by emotion. At the end of stage five which took the riders, drivers and crews to Ha’il for a well-deserved rest day, Ignacio Sanchís’ voice cracked as he talked into the microphone… “This Dakar isn’t...
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