“Dakar is almost like a completely different sport”
En bref
- Hunter Miller’s first Dakar, in 2025, showed on global stage the skills that have made him a benchmark in the American off-road scene. The rookie immediately proved to be up to the challenge with a couple of Top 5 stage results and place of 10th in the final standings.
- His maiden participation in the world’s most iconic rally-raid marked a significant step in a racing path that started on quads when he was just 8 years old. Miller then transitioned to side-by-sides. He’s notably won the GNCC series in 2018 and he’s conquered the King of the Hammers at his first attempt (2020).
- Hearing the many stories of his friends -Seth Quintero, Mitch Guthrie, AJ- about Dakar nurtured his dreams of storming the desert. His first participation confirmed that this is the environment where he wants to thrive for years.
- In 2026, Miller returns with a better grasp of the challenges ahead of him and a clear ambition: to win Dakar. He’ll chase victory alongside a fellow Californian, Jeremy Gray, who impressed in his first participation with Sara Price (2024).
- Jeremy Gray paved his way to Dakar with Sara Price, with whom he won the 2023 Sonora Rally, part of her Road to Dakar winning campaign. The duo stormed Saudi Arabia at the beginning of 2024, claiming a stage win in the T4 class in their maiden participation.
- Price proved to be a special talent, and Jeremy Gray established himself as an elite navigator who now puts his skills at the service of fellow Californian Hunter Miller. It was Gray who called Miller to ask him about Dakar. And Miller answered saying he was about to ask him to participate in the 2026 edition!
- Gray and Miller tried their association in the Rallye du Maroc, where they finished 3rd in the SSV rankings. Now they aim for victory in the Dakar.
Ambition
H.M.: “I've spent basically the last year learning how to navigate and prepare myself for what now I know I'm getting myself into. Because last year I came in very, very naive. I know that I can drive and I know that I can go fast, but there's so much more to rally than just going fast. When you start to sit and think about it, it's very special. It's almost like a completely different sport than what we do over here.
I'm looking at the race way more as a whole, as opposed to just trying to win a stage, which would be awesome. But getting 10th in the stage is no problem if you're only 30 seconds behind. In the US, position is everything. But it's a completely different outlook in Dakar, and it's way more about making good decisions and not having mistakes that cost you five, six minutes, changing a tire or whatever it is. I'm way less concerned about trying to light the world on fire with driving speed than I am about being consistent. I really took that approach in Morocco and tried to put that into practice. I was right there at the end. I know that's the strategy that works.
Of course, I'm going to win. However, I was doing that last year, too. I realized very quickly that these guys that have years and years and years of experience, beating them is not a small thing to do. You can't underestimate any of them, but I don't go for second or 10th or just finishing, even though that is obviously a huge accomplishment to even finish the race. I want to win the thing, so it may not happen this year, but I'm looking at this as a long term thing. I mean, I fell in love with rally and I want to continue doing it into the foreseeable future. So I want to do well.”
J.G.: “I’m super excited for this opportunity to be back. With 2024 Dakar being my first I didn’t really know what to expect and I learned a lot. Consistency is key! We had ultimate highs and even lower lows. I’m taking what I learned and applying it to this race, hopefully we will be P1 in the end.
Dakar 2026 will be my second race with Hunter, the first being 2025 Rallye du Maroc. We mesh very well and I feel very comfortable with him driving. I know everything happens for a reason because the day I reached out to see if he was racing Dakar was the same day he was going to call me to ask me to navigate for him.
I want to bring him some redemption from his last year at Dakar. Going into this race we are both determined to win. We plan to be consistent each day, not push into mistakes and be in a good position to win going into the last stages.”
