“We’re targeting a win in the SSV class!”

After a five-year absence, Toomas Triisa returns to the Dakar in 2023 with a different vehicle but the same lofty ambitions. The Estonian will be competing in the SSVs, but he has spent almost his entire motorsport career on a bike, racing in motocross and enduro before getting his first taste of rally-raid around a decade ago. He and co-driver Mart Meeru both made their Dakar debut on two wheels in 2014, successfully reaching the finish line in the Chilean city of Valparaiso. Mart then completed the rally again in 2015, before the two close friends took part in the gruelling 2017 edition, where Toomas braved the rain and mud to win the hardcore Original by Motul class. After ticking that impressive item off his bucket list, the 40-year-old decided to bring an end to his motorcycle career. But once the Dakar bug bites, there's no known cure! Toomas and Mart are therefore making their comeback in 2023, getting behind the wheel of a Can-Am Maverick X3 for Rally Raid Estonia. They will be joined on the team by debutants Urvo Männama and Risto Lepik, who are driving a Toyota Hilux on what will be a historic edition for the Baltic nation; it's the first time Estonians have started the Dakar in the cars or SSVs. Toomas and Mart have only driven a few rallies together, but still managed an encouraging top-10 finish at the Rallye du Maroc. And given their combined experience and talent, they could certainly upset a few of their more fancied rivals in the T4s.

T.T.: "We decided to return to the Dakar because we haven't done it in Saudi Arabia. It looks really nice and there are a lot of dunes. My good friend Mart also agreed to come, and the SSV class is a new and interesting challenge for us. Why did we switch from bikes? Because everybody gets older! At my last Dakar in 2017 I managed to win the malle-moto class, and I decided that was it with bikes, after almost 30 years of riding motocross and enduro. I decided to try four wheels, so I started driving with crosskarts in the Estonian Rallycross series, to understand how things work and prepare for the SSVs at Dakar 2023. We're here now and really happy about it, it's a new dream come true. Mart and I are really good friends, we're both bikers. We started a Dakar project together in Estonia in 2012, then participated together on bikes in 2014. We also did malle-moto in 2017. So when I decided to go again, Mart was the first guy I asked to join. And here we are! Driving together is something we have almost never done. In 2022 we did Rally Breslau and the Rallye du Maroc, to try to understand it, and we like it! Our goal is to do our best at the Dakar. We're targeting a win in the SSV class!”