Photo: Sebastien Loeb Racing
Less than ten days are left until one of the most famous and at the same time most challenging races on this planet kicks off. On January 5, daring drivers, riders, and their machines will line up for the start of the 46th edition of the historic Dakar Rally competition, which this year takes place in Saudi Arabia.
With so little time left until the start of the competition you'd think the teams and companies taking part have pretty much said all they needed to say, presented their drivers and cars, and are waiting for the race to start.
Yet it is only now that the Americans from Polaris made public their star entry in the rally, the mighty RZR Pro R Factory that has impressed the crowds at some of this year's most important competitions.
Shown to the world earlier in 2023, the RZR Pro R Factory went on to snatch victory at each of the four Score events of the Pro UTV Open Class Championship, namely the San Felipe 250, Baja 400, Baja 500, and Baja 1000.
The same vehicle that was used for those achievements will compete in Dakar as well, with some worth-mentioning modifications, though.
First up, the chassis of the RZR was adapted to be compliant with FIA T4 Class requirements, and for the purpose of racing in Dakar it has been fitted with an integrated spare parts and tool storage supply. The chassis supports a race-tuned ProStar Fury 2.0-liter engine, and is in turn supported by Fox suspension system.
Some changes have been envisioned for the bodywork as well, as engineers sought to give drivers better visibility. Compared to the vehicles that completed in Score, the ones for Dakar will come with heated glass windshields, wipers, a washer and a blower kit.
Polaris will field two RZR Pro R Factory machines at Dakar, driven by people on the payroll of Sebastien Loeb Racing (SLR): Xavier de Soultrait and Florent Vayssade.
Besides these vehicles, the brand will be present in the desert with race-modified RZR Pro Rs, trusted to the capable hands of drivers from the Xtremplus (Shinsuke Umeda and Jorge Wagernfuhr) and TH-Trucks (Enrico Gaspari, Daniel González Reina, and Domingo Román Pardos) teams.
The 2024 Dakar Rally kicks off on January 5 in AlUla, Saudi Arabia. It will spread for no less than 12 stages (and a prologue), spanning a total of 3,100 miles (5,000 km) from end to end.
As per the organizers, 60 percent of the route is new and will require the creation of nine bivouacs along the way to support the teams. The competition is scheduled to close two weeks after it started, on January 19, in a place called Yanbu, in the same Saudi Arabia.
Yet it is only now that the Americans from Polaris made public their star entry in the rally, the mighty RZR Pro R Factory that has impressed the crowds at some of this year's most important competitions.
Shown to the world earlier in 2023, the RZR Pro R Factory went on to snatch victory at each of the four Score events of the Pro UTV Open Class Championship, namely the San Felipe 250, Baja 400, Baja 500, and Baja 1000.
The same vehicle that was used for those achievements will compete in Dakar as well, with some worth-mentioning modifications, though.
First up, the chassis of the RZR was adapted to be compliant with FIA T4 Class requirements, and for the purpose of racing in Dakar it has been fitted with an integrated spare parts and tool storage supply. The chassis supports a race-tuned ProStar Fury 2.0-liter engine, and is in turn supported by Fox suspension system.
Some changes have been envisioned for the bodywork as well, as engineers sought to give drivers better visibility. Compared to the vehicles that completed in Score, the ones for Dakar will come with heated glass windshields, wipers, a washer and a blower kit.
Polaris will field two RZR Pro R Factory machines at Dakar, driven by people on the payroll of Sebastien Loeb Racing (SLR): Xavier de Soultrait and Florent Vayssade.
Besides these vehicles, the brand will be present in the desert with race-modified RZR Pro Rs, trusted to the capable hands of drivers from the Xtremplus (Shinsuke Umeda and Jorge Wagernfuhr) and TH-Trucks (Enrico Gaspari, Daniel González Reina, and Domingo Román Pardos) teams.
The 2024 Dakar Rally kicks off on January 5 in AlUla, Saudi Arabia. It will spread for no less than 12 stages (and a prologue), spanning a total of 3,100 miles (5,000 km) from end to end.
As per the organizers, 60 percent of the route is new and will require the creation of nine bivouacs along the way to support the teams. The competition is scheduled to close two weeks after it started, on January 19, in a place called Yanbu, in the same Saudi Arabia.
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