“People didn’t expect us…” The beautiful story of Aveyron native Loïc Minaudier on the track for his 10th Dakar

For many off-road enthusiasts, the Dakar is the culmination of a lifetime. Loïc Minaudier remembers this day in January 2016, when he finally entered his KTM in the race. Two weeks later, he returned to Saint-Affrique (Aveyron) with a beautiful 33^e place, finisher’s medal around his neck. The first in a long series. On January 3, the Aveyron native took the start for the tenth time. Its status has changed; the light that dwells in his eyes in the bivouac has remained intact. “Being at the Dakar is a chance and a source of pride,” underlines the 37-year-old competitor. “These are the Olympics of our sport, and luckily it happens every year.”

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Pilot and teacher

Always fond of motor sports, “Minau” has made it his profession. He is notably a motorcycle trainer, teaching road book navigation (a device used in rally raids to find your way) to dozens of bikers each year. A certain Noah Sainct passed through his center, based in Saint-Affrique. Loïc took under his wing the son of the late Richard Sainct, Aveyron driver, three-time winner of the Dakar, who died in 2004 during the Pharaons rally. “I’m training him and we’ll soon see him on the slopes,” reveals the coach.

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Loïc doesn’t just teach motorcycling: he always practices it competitively. “The motorcycle is the flame of my life,” smiles the French champion of Enduro National 1 (2011) and Montée Impossible (2013). “As soon as I have an opportunity, I go for it.” And this also concerns motorsport, where he plays co-driver for a multitude of amateurs with more or less honed skills. “I do around twenty races a year, of all types. You could say that I don’t have time to be bored! (laughter) All these experiences make me grow enormously. “

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“I come for the emotions of the Dakar”

His partner on the Dakar, Mathieu Serradori, is his main driver. Performers (7^e in 2022, 12^e in 2023, 10^e in 2024), they even won in 2-wheel drive, but are now in 4-wheel drive. The South African brand Century has entrusted them with its new CR7. “It’s a small manufacturer who works hard and believes in us. We know that with our experience, the equipment and the team, we can achieve some good results.” Like on this day of Dakar 2024 when they were the first to reach the parc ferme, before the stars of the rally raid. “It made us laugh because the people there weren’t expecting us. They might have thought it was the broom car!”

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The organization now knows who it is dealing with when Century No. 209 rears its ugly head. Despite this move upmarket, the Aveyronnais refuses to get carried away, faithful to his mantra: “The game but not the stakes.” “The Dakar offers unique sensations and I come for that. If we give the best and the result is not exceptional, but we have experienced all these emotions, then we accept. It allows you to ride without stress while thriving. That’s how results happen.”

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In contact with the best

This 2025 edition could smile on them more than the others because it has a particularity: 45% of the car route is different from that of the motorcycles. Co-driving is once again becoming a trump card because cars can no longer follow the tracks left by bikers. That’s good, the duo from the south of France is good at navigation. “This course changes the way we approach rallying. There will be strategy, it will change the situation and it is very interesting for outsiders like us. In any case, every day I am obliged to give the best of myself with the luck that life gives me because here, I am living a waking dream.”

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The first stage including these separate configurations was the 48H Chrono, contested over two days. This Sunday, January 5, the competitors went as far as possible, before being repatriated at 5 p.m. to one of the makeshift camps set up on the route, then continuing and finishing the stage on Monday. 27 crews reached base E, including Mathieu and Loïc. They spent the night surrounded by Sébastien Loeb, Carlos Sainz and other champions. Men they no longer meet only in the bivouacs, but also, increasingly, in the rankings.