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The 46th edition of the Dakar Rally officially starts in January, and Polaris is set to have its highest number of crews entered in the race with three teams running a total of eight crews who have chosen the Polaris RZR as their T4 vehicle of choice.
The fifth edition of the Dakar in Saudi Arabia will be held from 5 to 19 January 2024, marking Polaris’ 13th year of attendance of the race, and will start in the thousand-year-old city of AlUla, crossing the country in the direction of the Empty Quarter and finishing in Yanbu on the shores of the Red Sea.
Meet the Polaris teams who will be taking on the challenge for 2024…
SÉBASTIEN LOEB RACING TEAM
Entering the second year of the five-year partnership between Polaris and the Sébastien Loeb Racing (SLR) Team, the team approaches Dakar 2024 with the same two crews applying their experience and learnings from the previous edition, this time at the helm of the Polaris RZR Pro R Factory; a vehicle specifically designed and built for the gruelling demands of racing. The team continues its progress towards the ultimate aim of achieving the leading positions in the category, both in Dakar and the FIA W2RC rankings.
#411 – Pilot Xavier de Soultrait (France) and co-pilot Martin Bonnet (UK)
#405 – Pilot Florent Vayssade (France) and co-pilot Nicolas Rey (France)
XTREMEPLUS
Marking 16 years of Dakar attendance for Xtremeplus, with 12 of those being with Polaris RZR, the team enters the world’s toughest rally with a history of successes and invaluable experience; and is ready to use this to their advantage for the next edition. Entering three teams into the 2024 edition with the Polaris RZR Pro R, the team’s focus is to find a good rhythm and finish the race with all teams.
#401 – Pilot Shinsuke Umeda (Japan) and co-pilot Maurizio Dominella (Italy) – 2023 T4 vice-champions in the W2RC World Rally-Raid Championship with the RZR Pro R.
#410 – Pilot Michele Cinotto (Italy) and co-pilot Alberto Bertoldi (Italy)
#415 – Pilot Jorge Wagernfuhr (Brazil) and co-pilot Humberto Ribeiro (Brazil)
TH-TRUCKS
Entering Dakar for the first time in the SSV category, but with more than 25 years of experience in the field and many Dakar Rally experiences both racing and providing assistance trucks for teams, TH-Trucks chooses the Polaris RZR Pro R to enter three crews into the Dakar Rally for a new project in partnership with CAP 4 Racing.
#442 – Pilot Enrico Gaspari (Italy) and co-pilot Facundo Jaton (Argentina)
#436 – Pilot Daniel González Reina (Mexico) and co-pilot Jorge Hernández Calva (Mexico)
#434 – Pilot Domingo Román Pardos (Spain) and co-pilot Óscar Bravo Garcia (Spain) – also set to race in the Spanish CERTT Championship next year.
Follow the teams’ progress on social media or online:
Sebastien Loeb Racing Team – @loebracing / https://sebastienloebracing.com
Xtremeplus – FB @infoxtremeplus / IG @xtremeplusfrance / https://www.xtremeplus.fr
TH-Trucks – FB @thtrucksteam / IG @thtrucks_team / https://th-trucks.com
ABOUT POLARIS
As the global leader in powersports, Polaris Inc. (NYSE: PII) pioneers product breakthroughs and enriching experiences and services that have invited people to discover the joy of being outdoors since our founding in 1954. Polaris’ high-quality product line-up includes the Polaris RANGER®, RZR® and Polaris GENERAL™ side-by-side off-road vehicles; Sportsman® all-terrain off-road vehicles; military and commercial off-road vehicles; snowmobiles; Indian Motorcycle® mid-size and heavyweight motorcycles; Slingshot® moto-roadsters; Aixam quadricycles; Goupil electric vehicles; and pontoon and deck boats, including industry-leading Bennington pontoons. Polaris enhances the riding experience with a robust portfolio of parts, garments, and accessories. Proudly headquartered in Minnesota, Polaris serves more than 100 countries across the globe.
