Left in the Dust at the 2024 Dakar Rally
Tough Trials and Turbulent Turnovers Shocked Teams & Viewers until the End
Polaris & Loeb Racing Clinch the Win in the SSV T4 Class, While Mitch Guthrie Jr.’s Dreams Are Dashed on a Mechanical
Words: Justin W. Coffey
Photos: FOTOP, Rally Zone, A.S.O.
The 2024 Dakar Rally wrapped up in the port city of Yanbu along the Red Sea on Friday afternoon, January 19. After more than 5,000 kilometers of racing, mechanical failures, mishaps, crashes, and a race course that included everything from steep sand dunes to sharp, tire-destroying stones and a bit of everything in between, the racers that had survived the 46th edition of the rally rolled across the finish line. This would be a historic year for a multitude of reasons.
In the Bikes category, American racer Ricky Brabec collected his second win in four years aboard his Honda CRF 450 Rally (#9, Team Monster Energy HRC). Ricky is still the first and only American to ever win the Dakar Rally in the category. In the Ultimate Cars class, 61-year-old Carlos Sainz and navigator Lucas Cruz piloted their Audi RS Q e-tron (#204, Team Audi Sport) to victory, the first car to win the legendary event with an alternative drivetrain. This was Sainz’s fourth win, his last coming in 2020 at the wheel of an X-Raid Mini Cooper.
Following the Rest Day in Riyadh, competitors had six more grueling stages ahead of them before they would set eyes on the Red Sea and the finish line in Yanbu. At that juncture, Mitchell Guthrie Jr. (#303, Taurus Factory Team) and Xavier de Soultrait (#411, Loeb Racing, Polaris Factory Racing) were atop the overall classification in the Challenger T3 and SSV T4 categories, respectively. Sara Price, in her rookie appearance at Dakar, was sitting in 4th place overall in the SSV class following the first six stages and was only 00:06:37 off the pace of Soultrait in first place. Would this be the first time we see an American woman on the top step of the podium at Dakar? Time would tell.
The Challenger T3 class would see a shake-up as Eryk Goczal (#302, Energylandia Rally Team) and his uncle, Michal (#310, Energylandia Rally Team), were disqualified for using a non-permitted part on his Taurus T3 Max challenger, which was discovered by the FIA during the Rest Day. His absence sent Mitch Guthrie to the top of the standings, with a commanding lead of 00:33:36 over Cristina Gutierrez (#306, Red Bull Off Road Jr Team) following his win on Stage 7. Guthrie would finish second on Stage 8, seventh on Stage 9, sixth on Stage 10, and sixth again on Stage 11.
Then, disaster struck on the final stage in Yanbu. A short distance into the final stage, the hose to the turbo on Guthrie’s Taurus T3 came off, causing him to lose power. Due to the extreme heat produced by the engine, it was difficult for Guthrie and navigator, Kellon Walch, to affix a new clamp to the disconnected hose. This delay cost them 25 minutes on the special stage, handing the overall lead and eventual victory to Cristina Gutierrez and Pablo Moreno.
Gutierrez would finish in third on the 12th and final stage, securing her the overall victory in the Challenger T3 category, with Guthrie and Walch in second place 00:36:46 behind them. Rokas Baciuska and navigator, Oriol Vidal (#300, Can-Am Factory Team), finished third overall in the category just a few minutes ahead of Francisco Lopez and Juan Pablo Latrach (#301, Can-Am Factory Team) in fourth place.
Fate and failure played a tremendous role in the final standings for the Challenger T3 category. The disqualification of Eryk Goczal and his uncle, Michal, opened the door for Guthrie to walk away with the win. But a race isn’t finished until the checkered flag flies, especially when you’re discussing the Dakar. Gutierrez, who had been running well all week long, keeping herself and her T3 vehicle a short distance and time behind Guthrie after he assumed the overall lead after Special Stage 6, was prepared for any opportunity that would allow her to take the lead and eventual victory.
As fate would have it, Guthrie’s mechanical failure and subsequent time loss pushed Gutierrez into the overall lead. She crossed the finish line in Yanbu to become only the second female ever to win the Dakar Rally, the first being Jutta Kleinschmidt in 2001. Patience and persistence pay off in the world of cross-country rally racing, and Gutierrez’s historic win was a testimony of that.
“I always tried to fight until the finish. We didn’t know what had happened until the last kilometers. We pushed a lot on this stage because I knew that 25 minutes is a lot, but if something happens behind you, you never know. When I got to the finish, I didn’t know what had happened, but I’m very glad and proud of the team and happy with the car. For sure, I’m very happy…I am very happy with the victory and this is for all of them. One of my values is to never give up and always in the race I never gave up. I pushed myself until the finish. It’s the best finish possible, and I want to say ‘thanks’ to Red Bull, to Arnaud and to all the team for giving us this beautiful car.” – Cristina Gutierrez (#306), Red Bull Off-Road JR. Team USA, T3
Xavier de Soultrait has spent the last decade racing the Dakar Rally, his best result being a 4th place finish on a bike in 2020. Soultrait switched to the SSV T4 category for 2023, finishing 19th overall. But 2024 would be a different story for the French former motorcycle racer. Behind the wheel of his Sebastien Loeb Racing Polaris RZR Pro R, Soultrait collected his first stage win on SS5, and then again on SS6.
These two stage wins, followed by two second-place finishes on the three subsequent stages, gave him a comfortable lead as the rally moved toward the finish in Yanbu. Sara Price would collect her first stage win at Dakar on the tenth stage, a historic moment for the rookie driver who became the first American woman to ever win a stage at the famed event.
“We finished our first Dakar Rally just shy of the Podium, but [we’re] Second in the World Rally Raid Championship! So proud of all those involved in this dream [of mine] and can’t thank everyone enough who helped make it happen! Time to…come back better [than ever] in 2025 and continue the W2RC this year!” – Sara Price (#605), Price Racing,T4
But Soultrait’s consistency kept the French driver out front as a hungry pack of Can-Ams chased close behind him. Going into the penultimate stage, Soultrait had a ten-minute lead over Price and her South Racing Can-Am. A mechanical issue on Stage 11 cost Price her place on the podium, however, pushing the American back to 4th place in the general classification, where she would remain until the finish. Soultrait had a 00:02:49 lead over Jerome de Sadeleer heading into the twelfth and final stage, and although Sadeleer managed a third-place finish on the final stage, it was Polaris’ time to be atop the podium, with Soultrait securing the manufacturer’s first SSV victory since the class was created in 2017.
“I was quite close to winning on a bike in 2021 when I broke my back. It was tough to handle at the time with very young children. I asked myself the question of whether I would carry on or stop everything. I’m really happy to have teamed up with Martin, Polaris and Loeb Racing. We had half an hour’s lead, we were attacked by some not very classy people, but we kept our heads up. We didn’t crack, we won fair and square and we can be proud of ourselves. I think we represent the Polaris image very well, we play fair and winning like that is really cool.” – Xavier de Soultrait (#411), Polaris Factory & Loeb Racing, T4
The Dakar Rally redefines difficulty. It tests people in ways that no other racer or event can, with the distances traveled, the days spent with little to no sleep, and the terrain ever-changing, always an obstacle for future progress. It takes a team, and a village of people in the bivouac each night to keep this circus going. The 2024 iteration was unlike others, with the overall distance and difficulty surpassing prior years according to many accounts.
This was a historic year for many reasons. Cristina Gutierrez’s victory was only the second for a woman in 46 editions of the race, and Price’s near podium finish and stage win was the first for an American woman. These were only a few of the momentous occasions. Brabec’s second title on bikes proved Honda’s efforts paid off, and Xavier de Soultrait’s first-place finish in the Polaris RZR Pro R showed that the top step was again up for grabs after Can-Am had occupied the place for a handful of years. What will the 2025 edition of the Dakar Rally bring? Changes. Always changes.
TOP FINISHERS
For live updates and race results, head to the Dakar Rally website: https://www.dakar.live.worldrallyraidchampionship.com/en/
CHALLENGER, T3
- #306 Cristina Gutierrez (ESP) Pablo Moreno Huete (ESP); Red Bull Off-Road JR. Team USA By BFG: 53H 59′ 47” 00H 15′ 10”
- #303 Mitchell Guthrie Jr., (USA) Kellon Walch (USA); Taurus Factory Team: 54H 36′ 33” + 00H 36′ 46”
- #300 Rokas Baciuska (LTU), Oriol Vidal Montijano (ESP); Can-Am Factory Team: 54H 58′ 34” + 00H 58′ 47”
- #301 Francisco Lopez Contardo (CHL), Juan Pablo Latrach Vinagre (CHL); Can-Am Factory Team: 55H 11′ 07” + 01H 11′ 20”
- #305 Austin “AJ” Jones (USA), Gustavo Gugelmin (BRA); Can-Am Factory Team: 55H 44′ 34” + 01H 44′ 47”
SSV, T4
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# 411 Xavier de Soultrait (FRA), Martin Bonnet (FRA); Loeb Racing, Polaris Factory Racing: 56H 37′ 43”
- #420 Jerome de Sadeleer (CHE), Michael Metge (FRA); MMP: 56H 40′ 08” + 00H 02′ 25”
- #408 Yasir Seaidan (SAU), Adrien Metge (FRA); MMP: 57H 42” 11′ + 01H 04′ 28” + 01H 04′ 28”
- #419 Sara Price (USA), Jeremy Gray (USA); South Racing Can-Am: 57H 48′ 58” + 01H 11′ 15”
- #400 Joao Ferreira (PRT), Filipe Palmeiro (PRT); Can-Am Factory Team: 57H 56′ 35” + 01H 18′ 52”
