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

Martin Bonnet and Xavier de Soultrait are leaving again aboard their Polaris SSV. DR – Fray Media

Martin Bonnet took off for Saudi Arabia on Sunday, December 29, 2024. This Friday, January 3, 2025, with his driver Xavier de Soultrait, he will be on the starting grid of the Dakar Rally. Interview.

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

We are 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 a driver?

Absolutely. 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, who wins everything in the United States. Polaris is an American brand. They wanted there to be a crew from the country. In addition, there is Florent Vayssade and his co-driver Nicolas Rey.

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

Polaris had provided the means for us to ride more before the Dakar. For me, with work, it was complicated. I organized myself. I couldn't go everywhere. Xavier went to Mexico. Another co-driver went with him. Then, we went to Morocco together. We did five big days of riding. I had road books. We worked hard. In addition, we had a completely unbridled vehicle. It allowed us to go faster and work better on navigation. Then Xavier went back to Dubai for three days.

What goal do you have for yourself this year??

We don't put pressure on ourselves. In 2024, everything went as it should. We had a few problems, but no big problems. Before the Dakar, we imagine a thousand things and, in the end, a thousand more happen. We were lucky to win last year. This year, we have to manage to keep the same state of mind. Getting a podium would already be great, even if we're going to do everything to play in front.

Who do you think is the 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 has been on the podium on a motorbike. He is strong. It suits us that he is the favorite. We will be able to run our race on our side.

The Can-Am team also wants to get back to the final victory ?

This is Polaris' rival team. They've been winning for ten years. When we beat them last year, it stung a little. They've developed a new vehicle. We're sure their drivers will perform well.

What's the recipe for winning the Dakar? ?

On the Dakar, it's 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 very fast. Something always happens to him. I think he doesn't know how to slow down. He had the misfortune of going too fast in certain places. With Xavier, last year, there were times when we were going slower than the others. But we didn't get a flat tire. We didn't break any wheels.

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How is the program for this 2025 edition shaping up?

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

Last year, you won it…

Yes, but it was only in the dunes. This year, it is on rough ground, on rocks. We will have to play a little with the tires, the wheels, the mechanics. We know that our Polaris is reliable. We have never had too many problems. Other competitors arrive with a new vehicle that has only been driven in Morocco. Having the 48 hours from the beginning 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 a 48 hours except that in the evening, we're at a bivouac, but without mechanics. There's nothing. So we must have saved the car for two days.

And the second week ?

We go back down to the Empty Quarter (Editor's note: the Empty Quarter in French), the dunes of southern Saudi Arabia. There are also big stages waiting for 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 playground is really fabulous. Up top, we have more rocks, canyons, lots of sailing. Down below, the Empty 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 find the human side. We are far from everything. It lacks a bit of excitement.

So nothing to do with the original Paris-Dakar…

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

An extreme 7,805 km race for the 800 or so competitors

Martin Bonnet and Xavier de Soultrait in the Empty Quarter and its dunes as far as the eye can see. DR – Fray Media

The Dakar Rally, whose 47th edition will take place from Friday January 3 to Friday January 17, 2025, is one of, if not the, most extreme races in the world. For two weeks, whether on a motorbike, car, truck or quad, the mechanics and bodies suffer. Living conditions are rudimentary. Sleep is difficult.

Arrival in Shubaytah

This year, 7,805 km will be covered in just thirteen days, including 5,209 km in special. The 800 or so competitors will set off from Bisha, a town of 116,000 inhabitants in the southwest of Saudi Arabia. The finishers will cross the finish line in Shubaytah, the gateway to the Empty Quarter . A place well known to Dakar regulars, since the last two editions, as well as the 2020 edition, passed through there.

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