“On the Dakar, it’s not the fastest who win”: Mendois co-driver Martin Bonnet puts his title back on the line in the SSV category

After the title in 2024 in the SSV (side-by-side vehicle) category, you are leaving for a fourth Dakar Rally…

We’re kind of obliged, we won last year (laughs). We have to try to defend the title a little.

Still with the Polaris factory and your friend Xavier de Soultrait as pilot?

Quite. However, this year we have a little more help from Polaris. There, it’s really the official Polaris United States team, with the support of Sébastien Loeb Racing and Fray Media, our agent who oversees all the business around the race.

Are there other Polaris crews or will you be the only one?

They added an American team, with Brock Heger and Andrew Short, which wins everything in the United States. Polaris is an American brand. They wanted there to be a local crew. In addition, there is Florent Vayssade and his co-driver Nicolas Rey.

How did you prepare before this 47^e edition of the Dakar Rally?

Polaris had put in place the means to allow us to ride more before the Dakar. For me, with work, it was complicated. I got organized. I couldn’t go everywhere. Xavier went to Mexico. Another co-pilot left with him. Then, we went to Morocco together. We did five big days of driving. I had roadbooks. We worked hard. In addition, we had a completely unrestrained vehicle. This allowed us to go faster and work better on navigation. Then, Xavier left for three days in Dubai.

What goal are you setting for yourself this year?

We don’t put pressure on ourselves. In 2024, everything has gone as it should. We had some problems, but not big problems. Before the Dakar, we imagine a thousand things and, ultimately, a thousand more happen. We were lucky to win last year. This year, we have to manage to keep a bit of the same state of mind. Making a podium would already be great, even if we are going to do everything to play in front.

Who do you think is favorite in SSV?

Francisco Chaleco Lopez, the Chilean from Red Bull Can-Am. He has already won the Dakar four times in Prototypes or SSV. He made podiums on motorcycles. He is strong. It suits us that he is the favorite. We can do our race on our own.

The Can-Am team also wants to return to final victory?

This is Polaris’ competing team. She had been winning for ten years. When we beat her last year, it stung a little. She has developed a new vehicle. We are sure that its drivers will perform well.

What is the recipe for winning the Dakar?

On the Dakar, it is not the strongest, the fastest who win. We can see this clearly with Sébastien Loeb from our team. He can’t win because he’s so fast. Something always happens to him. I don’t think he knows how to slow down. He had the misfortune of going too quickly in certain places. With Xavier, last year, there were times when we were going slower than the others. But we didn’t die. We didn’t break any wheels.

How does the program for this 2025 edition look?

We will have a very big first week. From the second day, we attack with the 48-hour test of 1,057 km (965 in special). The first day, we stop at 5 p.m. We take out a tent. We sleep on the track.

Last year you won it…

Yes but she was only in the dunes. This year, it is in brittle, stone. We’ll have to play a little with the tires, the wheels, the mechanics. We know that our Polaris is reliable. We never had too many problems. Other competitors arrive with a new vehicle which has only been driven in Morocco. Having 48 hours from the start can be an advantage for us.

There will also be the marathon stage…

After the 48 hours, we have two stages, then the marathon. It’s almost 48 hours except that in the evening, we are on a bivouac, but without mechanics. There is nothing. You must therefore have saved the car for two days.

And the second week?

We go back down towards theEmpty Quarter (the Empty Quarter in French, Editor’s note), the dunes of southern Saudi Arabia. There are also big steps ahead of us.

For the sixth time, the Dakar takes place in Saudi Arabia. Isn’t it a disappointment not to change countries?

Sportingly, Saudi Arabia is perfect. The playing field is truly fabulous. At the top, we have more rocks, canyons, a lot of navigation. At the bottom, theEmpty Quarter had dunes as far as the eye could see, one of the largest oceans of dunes in the world. On the other hand, we don’t really see the human side. We are far from everything. It lacks a bit of enthusiasm.

Nothing to do with the original Paris-Dakar…

When we talk to the elders about it, they tell us that it was something else. There was an atmosphere around. In South America, it was the same. It was almost too much… There were even risks, with all these spectators at the side of the track. In Saudi Arabia, people don’t really care. Plus, it’s so big. The Saudis are in the cities and we are in the middle of the desert. We don’t see many spectators.

An extreme race of 7,805 km for the approximately 800 competitors

The Dakar Rally, including the 47^e edition will take place from Friday January 3 to Friday January 17, 2025, is one if not the most extreme race in the world. For two weeks, whether on a motorcycle, car, truck or quad, the mechanics and the body suffer. Living conditions are rudimentary. Difficult sleep.

Arrival at Shubaytah

This year 7,805 km will be covered in just thirteen days, including 5,209 km on special. The approximately 800 competitors will start from Bisha, a town of 116,000 inhabitants in the southwest of Saudi Arabia. THE finishers will cross the finish line at Shubaytah, the gateway to theEmpty Quarter (Empty quarter). A place well known to Dakar regulars, since the last two editions, as well as that of 2020, took place there.

As Martin Bonnet, co-driver of Xavier de Soultrait at Sébastien Loeb Racing, anticipates, the second stage, Sunday January 5 and Monday January 6, which will be run in forty-eight hours, will be one of the toughest.