Polaris Racing’s Dakar Rally Drivers Tell Their Stories

The 2025 Dakar Rally is under way, and Polaris’ Defending Dakar series is rolling right along with it. In case you’re just catching up, the Polaris factory racing team hooked up with Sebastien Loeb Racing last year and won the SSV class in a purpose-built UTV based on the RZR Pro R Factory. This year, Polaris is sending the winning crew from last year, Xavier de Soultrait and Martin Bonnet, as well as two Americans in Brock Heger and co-driver Max Eddy Jr.

Episode 1 in the series talked to Heger and Eddy about their preparation. Episode 2 dug into this year’s rig. Episode 3 is back to the driving teams, talking to all four men about their histories and how they ended up challenging for Dakar. The amazing thing about their stories isn’t how much they’ve won, it’s how long they’ve all been doing it and how they all started on two wheels. Heger is the youngest of the group at 25, and he already has 17 years of racing under his belt.

Related: The 4,850-Mile Dakar Route Revealed, First Week Is a Doozy

Check out their stories in the video. Based on the early returns, it appears Heger wasn’t lying about learning a lot from last year’s winner de Soultrait. Heger and Eddy won the prologue, ending the first day of the Dakar leading their SSV Class, 25 seconds ahead of teammate de Soultrait. As of writing at the end of the third stage, Heger sits in third place in class, 12 minutes and 40 seconds behind de Soultrait in first place.

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