The Dakar Rally has officially reached a day of rest in Ha’il after five intense stages–including the harrowing 48h Chrono Stage that juggles the twin challenges of endurance and performance. For most, simply making it to rest day is a triumph - a hard-earned milestone for those who reach this rally-raid checkpoint with both grit and determination intact.
 
Sporting a new livery for 2025 with a three-team setup, the Sébastien Loeb Racing (SLR) - RZR Factory Racing team has set the pace from the outset. With three victories already under their belts so far–claimed in the prologue, stage 1 and stage 2 48h Chrono. The SLR crews of #425 Brock Heger and Max Eddy Jr. and #400 Xavier de Soultrait (XDS) and Martin Bonnet currently occupy the top of the podium at the helm of the Polaris RZR Pro R Factory, holding P1 and P2 respectively in the general classification going into the rest day.

SÉBASTIEN LOEB RACING TEAM STANDINGS

#425 – Brock Heger and Max Eddy Jr.

Overall position after stage 5: P1 (Time 31H 51’ 54”)

#400 – Xavier de Soultrait and Martin Bonnet

Overall position after stage 5: P2 (Gap +1H 18’ 30”)

#411 – Florent Vayssade and Nicolas Rey

Overall position after stage 5: P20

The prologue saw a fantastic start to the Dakar with Brock claiming the best time in his first official performance at the Dakar Rally, closely followed by XDS just 25 seconds behind, which set the tone for what is proving to be a great run for Polaris in the first half of Dakar. The third SLR crew, #411 Florent Vayssade and Nicolas Rey, concluded the top 10 of the prologue, giving the team a big advantage going into the first stage. 

Stage 1 continued that momentum with the first SSV stage win claimed by XDS, followed by an enormous win for Brock in the highly anticipated 48H Chrono stage. After spending a night under the stars without mechanical assistance, the SLR team narrowly missed out on a 3-crew podium in stage 2, finishing in P1, P2 and P4.

Stage 3 saw more podiums with a P2 and P3 for XDS and Brock respectively, gaining them an additional 10-minute advantage on the closest Can-Am crew in P3. Unfortunately, Florent suffered a mechanical problem on the liaison between the morning’s bivouac and the start of the special, causing them to exceed the 30-minute maximum delay of their planned departure time. For the crew, it resulted in a 10-hour penalty and the lost opportunity of a “finishers medal” at the end of the race: A reminder of how quickly things can change in the Dakar Rally, and the humility teams must maintain until the very end.

Stage 4 - the marathon stage where caution and endurance were crucial given that no outside assistance was allowed once they reached the bivouac - threw more challenges at the team. XDS suffered three punctures and a broken rear suspension rod which led to him losing 1 hour in the standings and dropping to P2 in the general rankings, behind teammate Brock who claimed the top spot after a fantastic ride and a podium finish. Yesterday’s stage 5 continued the podium streak with a P2 for Brock and P3 for XDS, strengthening their leading positions in the SSV race.

TH-TRUCKS

The TH-Trucks team are proving that their crews are more than prepared for what Dakar has to throw at them with all three SSV crews still in the race and on their way to reach their goal of getting a Dakar Finishers medal. The #406 crew of Enrico Gaspari and Facundo Jaton have been consistently performing well, claiming two top-10 positions in the opening stages with a P7 in stage 1, and P8 in stage 2, and hold a phenomenal P6 in the general classifications going into rest day.

#406 – Enrico Gaspari (IT) and Fausto Mota (ESP)

Overall position after stage 5: P6

#434 – Domingo Roman (ESP) and Oscar Bravo (ESP)

Overall position after stage 5: P17

#435 – José Ignacio Gayoso (ESP) and Santiago Javier Ramiro (ESP)

Overall position after stage 5: P22

Six more stages to go and the crews continue to push towards the finish podium that will take place on Friday 17th January in Shubaytah, Saudi Arabia.

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Follow the teams’ progress on social media or online:

Sébastien Loeb Racing Team – @loebracing / @FrayMedia

TH-Trucks – FB @thtrucksteam / IG @thtrucks_team


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