“2025 Dakar was good preparation for the 2026 edition!”
En bref
J.D.
- Joao Dias made his Dakar debut in 2023 in the T5 category, not as a driver but as a mechanic for the X-Raid assistance truck.
- The Dakar had been a long-standing dream. Having the opportunity to participate in the T5 category without any competitive goals gave him an insider's perspective on the struggle, effort, demands, learning and resilience associated with the ultimate motorsport challenge.
- It was an opportunity that arose after his first-year racing in 2022 when he became the national champion in the T3 category, winning every race he participated in.
- In 2023, he focused on international competition and became the European class champion in his first year.
- For 2024, his goals included defending both titles. Beyond achieving that, he claimed his first overall victory at the Baja Italy, secured an overall win in the national championship at the Baja Oeste, and was in contention for the overall title until the final race of the championship.
- As preparation for Dakar, he also participated in the Rallye du Maroc for the second time and competed in the last three World Cup races: Jordan, where he achieved 3rd place overall and Qatar, where he finished 3rd place overall
- Unfortunately, his Dakar debut behind the wheel did not go according to plan. An engine problem on Stage 2 saw Joao down in 148th place overall and forced to switch to the Dakar Experience category. Finishing 156th on stage 10 didn’t do much for his morale either!
- Since then, Joao has switched to a Polaris and recruited Daniel Jordao as co-driver.
D.J.
- Daniel is yet another Portuguese ex-motorcycle racer who has made the switch to navigating SSVs.
- National cross-country champion overall in 2019 on a bike, his first experience as a co-driver was the 2021 Baja Portalegre, before going onto the Rallye du Maroc in 2023 in preparation for the 2024 Dakar alongside Mario Franco.
- They had a challenging time aboard the Yamaha powered X-Raid YZX1000R, finishing in the Dakar Experience category.
Ambition
J.D.: “The best thing you could say about my 2025 Dakar was that it was good preparation for the 2026 edition! We have been really involved in the Polaris project and done a lot of testing. In terms of results, we managed to win the bp Ultimate Rally Raid Portugal and the prologue and stage 1 of the Rallye du Maroc. That’s helped a lot with our confidence with both the car and the team going into the 2026 Dakar”.
D.J.: “The 2024 Dakar was really tough. We had some mechanical challenges which made our life even harder. And yet despite that I loved everything about the race, it was an amazing experience. So, when Joao asked me to be his co-driver in the Polaris I jumped at the chance. I know his ability and the car is good, so while I’d really like to get that finishers medal, I think we could do a lot better than that.”
