“The Dakar asks you to have solutions all the time”
CREW FACTS
D.A.
- Dania Akeel started her motorsports career as a bike rider on circuit but she isn’t just a motorsports athlete and fanatic. Having achieved a bachelor’s degree in “Modern History and Politics” from the Royal Holloway University of London and then a Master’s degree in “International Business” at the Hult International Business School in the United-States, she combines her passion with consulting, motivational speaking and book writing.
- Little did she know then in her motorbike years she would switch to off-road rallying in cars. Dania Akeel was first invited by the Saudi motorsports federation and the Dakar organisers to come and visit the event. Several test drives and experiences on various other rallies eventually led to that big step up: the Dakar.
- For her debut on the Dakar in 2022, the Jeddah native managed the performance to finish in the Top 10 in T3 class (8th). It didn’t go quite as well the following year (2023) suffering a massive set back on day 4 that prevented her from bettering her overall position (28th).
- After another disappointment last January when she again finished 28th of the Dakar, this year appears to have been her break-through season. Alongside co-driver Stephane Duplé, the Saudi 36-year-old took part in the W2RC championship once again finishing 2nd of the round in Argentina and 3rd of the Rallye du Maroc. She even had the opportunity to race in a Toyota Hilux Ultimate T1+ car that she drove to second spot at the Qatar Baja.
- For her fourth Dakar, Akeel will be part of the BBR team driving a very competitive Taurus and dreams of making it on the final podium.
S.D.
- When he’s not in the right seat of a rally vehicle, Stephane Duplé is a truck and car instructor back home in the Pyrenees area of France. The ideal job to fulfill his other passion and partner drivers to that finish line of the toughest events in the world.
- He was first given the opportunity to come on the Dakar in 2015, some ten years ago, thanks to Yves Tartarin, a veteran of the off-road rally scene who saw in Duplé a bright future. That first Dakar experience ended at a 49th position.
- After four Dakar rallies alongside Tartarin, the Frenchman had to wait until the Dakar moved to Saudi Arabia to return in a cockpit, this time in an SSV with Swiss driver Vincent Gonzalez. A year later Duplé had to focus on giving notes in English to Britain’s Liam Griffin (20th overall in 2021) and then to young Aliyyah Koloc (33rd in 2023).
- The 42-year-old first navigated Dania Akeel before the last Dakar and after a disappointing first experience on the world’s toughest rally due to several mechanical issues they carried on improving all along the season. Great performances that convince the Frenchman that they can battle for a Top 5 on the Dakar and dream of a podium.
AMBITIONS 2025
D.A.: “I love the Dakar because it asks you to have solutions all the time and mainly above all to focus.
I find that the Dakar is much more familiar in Saudi Arabia. It seems like a lot of people know about it more. They understand more about the rules, the categories. You have my grandmother naming the top 3 finishers at the dinner table and asking me if I’ve met them. And that’s new.
I’m very excited for Dakar 2025. We had a great season with BBR in the Taurus. We enjoyed a nice progression from race to race. The car is getting stronger, and we were (with Stephane) getting to know each other more as the season went by.
I was also lucky enough to drive the Toyota T1+ for the Saudi championship and in Qatar where I captured my first ever career stage win. I’m just becoming more and more familiar with the car. There is a big similarity in the way that the Taurus and the Toyota are driven in terms of the sequential gear box. The driving style is similar aside from the change in speed and weight.
So it’s been a wonderful season. I’ve enjoyed every single race. I had some moments of joy, some moments of pain but that’s all part of the game. I’m looking forward to what’s to come. On the Dakar, the goal will be to contend for the podium in the Challenger class. We’ve been working hard and I’m sure as has everybody else so we’ll see how things go.”
S.D.: “The last Dakar was a massive setback. We had a mechanical problem with 90kms to go before the rest day. But we managed to carry on until the finish despite suffering issues every single day on the car. A Dakar to forget that leaves a bad taste in the mouth. We did the 2024 season in a new team, BBR still in a Taurus and managed to capture great places on all the W2RC rallies which is great because there’s a big battle in the Challenger class.
We will show up on the next Dakar confident, motivated and determined. We’re going to focus on managing good things stage after stage. We’ll try to avoid making mistakes that can cost us dearly. We obviously aim at the highest possible position and based on our results this season, and in a very humble way, we’ll try to get closer to the Top 5 because a Dakar is super hard. But in the back of our mind, we hope to be close to the podium in our class. There’s still a long way to go. We’re outsiders, far from being favourites but we’re going to fight.”
