the essential
The operator of several Sport 2000 stores in the South-West was not expected to participate in the race; today Monday January 13, at the end of the eighth stage, he is leader and is fighting to win in 2-wheel drive! Narrative.
His name was not on the first entry list, released at the end of November. Nor on those that The Dispatch was subsequently obtained. Don’t see this as an error: Pierre Lachaume was simply not supposed to compete in the 2025 Dakar Rally. The adopted Toulouse native, born in Puy-en-Velay but living in the South-West for 25 years, had planned to pass family celebrations, on the ski slopes. He finally lived one New Year’s Day on the road towards the bivouac of Bisha, in Saudi Arabia, 6,000 kilometers from his family. “An incredible story,” smiles this operator of several Sport 2000 stores in the region.
From the Alps to Arabia
The Optimus No. 278 buggy he is driving today was supposed to be that of Jean-Pierre Strugo, an emblematic 78-year-old competitor from the Ile-de-France region. He had to renounce his participation for medical reasons. The news did not go unnoticed, because it is a first in 40 years. It reached Pierre’s ears on December 30, four days before the prologue. “He sends me a message, and I reply: ‘Wouldn’t we take the crazy bet that I take your place?’” he says. Chick!
Also read:
VIDEO. Dakar 2025: images of the terrible accident of Guerlain Chicherit, victim of several rollovers at more than 100 km/h
“With the organizer ASO, the MD Rallye Sport team and my family, we put everything in place in barely three hours. We managed to find plane tickets, my daughter made me my visa, my wife sorted it out. “other stuff… We were skiing in the Alps as a family, I arrived in Toulouse, packed my bag and left that evening.” He landed in Saudi Arabia on the 1stis January, then reached Bisha just in time for the traditional administrative checks. A first victory.
Leading in its category
Two weeks later, we are no longer just talking about Pierre Lachaume for this last minute arrival. He appears in the Dakar news as leader of the 2-wheel drive category. The adopted Toulouse, who is participating for the eighth time, has been fighting for this place since the start. Engine shutdowns halfway through the race had caused him to fall back in the standings. He regained leadership this Monday in Riyadh, on the evening of stage 8, 10 minutes ahead of the second. He also occupies 21e position in the general classification, not far from his best career result (13e in 2023). And acts as 3e French auto driver behind Varois Mathieu Serradori and Savoyard Lionel Baud.
Also read:
Dakar 2025: “People didn’t expect us…” The beautiful story of Aveyron native Loïc Minaudier on the track for his 10th rally-raid
The Toulouse man did not expect such a fate given the conditions in which he landed. Wouldn’t this relative detachment be precisely the driving force behind his performance? “Usually I prepare for the Dakar conscientiously, I do everything down to the smallest detail: the performance of my car, the physical preparation, that of my business, the strategic choice of stages… And I perhaps sometimes go there with a a little too much pressure!”, analyzes the entrepreneur. “There, that’s not the case. If I make mistakes, I tell myself that it doesn’t matter. I see a real benefit in this approach. I think we have to find the balance between this pressure to want to perform well, and the one that pushes us to do stupid things. To ride without pressure, I enjoy it and I have a great experience.
1,869 kilometers from the finish
A lover of the great outdoors, Pierre comes to seek his breath of fresh air in the desert two weeks a year. The adrenaline of the competition is a plus, which undeniably spices up the human adventure experienced alongside his navigator, Christophe Crespo. As the finish approaches, the two men do not deny having sporting ambitions. “Usually I come to aim for the Top 10 in the general classification, but with the new 4-wheel drive cars of our opponents, it is starting to be very difficult, explains the driver. So I came thinking what to do Top 20 and podium in 2-wheel drive would be perfect, but with what’s happening, I’m going to try to get first place!”
Also read:
Dakar 2025: “My wife was understanding!” Emergency passport, ministry intervention… Lionel Costes almost missed the start!
1,869 kilometers still separate the competitors from the end. The caravan headed east toward the Empty Quarter Desert, the largest uninterrupted expanse of sand in the world. The race will end there on Friday, after three days in the dunes. “We can’t wait to have fun there,” salivates Pierre. In the absence of snow-capped peaks, it will soon be rolling down mountains of sand. With perhaps, at the end of the track, the highest step of the podium.
