Xavier de Soultrait and navigator Martin Bonnet won the 2024 Dakar Rally SSV category in a Polaris RZR Pro R Factory, completing the nearly 5,000-mile event just minutes ahead of the second-place team. The victory gave Polaris its first Dakar SSV championship and became the first of three consecutive Dakar wins for the RZR Factory Racing program.
Polaris Wins the 2024 Dakar Rally SSV Category
The 46th Dakar Rally covered 4,903 miles (7,891 kilometers) across Saudi Arabia from January 5–19, 2024. Its 12 competitive stages included rocks, high-speed desert tracks and the immense dunes of the Empty Quarter.
Driving for Sébastien Loeb Racing, de Soultrait and Bonnet completed the event in 56 hours, 37 minutes and 43 seconds. Their final advantage over second-place finisher Jérôme de Sadeleer was only 2 minutes and 25 seconds—an exceptionally close margin after nearly two weeks of rally-raid competition.
The French team won the Prologue and two competitive stages while recording five top-three stage finishes and three additional top-five results.
How De Soultrait and Bonnet Reached the Lead
De Soultrait and Bonnet established themselves as contenders by winning the Prologue. They followed with fifth and second-place finishes in the opening two stages, but a 10th-place result on Stage 3 dropped them to eighth in the SSV standings.
Their recovery began with third place on Stage 4 and a victory on Stage 5. The pair then won the demanding 48-hour Chrono stage in the Empty Quarter, moving into third overall before the rally’s rest day.
A second-place finish on Stage 7 elevated the Polaris team into the overall lead. Two more runner-up finishes on Stages 8 and 9 expanded its advantage to more than 28 minutes.
The lead narrowed dramatically during the closing stages. De Soultrait and Bonnet received a 10-minute penalty on Stage 11, leaving only a small cushion for the final day. They responded with a controlled fourth-place finish on Stage 12, securing the SSV championship by less than two and a half minutes.
2024 Dakar SSV Results
| Position | Driver | Navigator | Vehicle | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Xavier de Soultrait | Martin Bonnet | Polaris RZR Pro R Factory | 56:37:43 |
| 2 | Jérôme de Sadeleer | Michael Metge | Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo | +2:25 |
| 3 | Yasir Seaidan | Adrien Metge | Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo | +9:37 |
The RZR Pro R Factory at Dakar
The winning vehicle was the first-generation Polaris RZR Pro R Factory, introduced in 2023 as the centerpiece of Polaris’ new factory-operated racing program.
Unlike a recreational RZR converted for competition, the Pro R Factory used a purpose-built, FIA-compliant race chassis. It combined that chassis with a race-prepared version of the naturally aspirated 2.0-liter ProStar Fury four-cylinder engine, FOX Factory Race ESC EVO 3.0 internal-bypass shocks and extensive rally-raid safety, navigation and cooling equipment.
Despite those competition-specific systems, the race vehicle retained important components derived from the production Polaris RZR Pro R, including its basic engine, transmission, CVT and driveline architecture. Our RZR Pro R versus RZR Pro R Factory comparison explains where the production and competition vehicles overlap—and where they are fundamentally different.
A Second Polaris Finishes in the Top 10
Sébastien Loeb Racing entered a second RZR Pro R Factory for Florent Vayssade and navigator Nicolas Rey. That team finished ninth in the SSV category after winning the 12th and final stage.
The second entry also recorded two other top-five stage finishes and four additional top-10 results, giving Polaris two finishers inside the SSV top 10.
Why the 2024 Victory Mattered
The win came less than two months after the RZR Pro R Factory captured the overall UTV victory at the 2023 Baja 1000. Together, the Baja and Dakar results demonstrated that Polaris’ new race platform could succeed in two distinctly different disciplines: high-speed North American desert racing and international rally raid.
The Dakar victory also expanded the reach of the factory program Polaris had established one year earlier. Read our complete history of Polaris RZR Factory Racing for the program’s development, drivers, championships and major victories.
The Beginning of Three Straight Dakar Wins
The importance of the 2024 victory became even clearer over the following two years. It began a run of three consecutive Polaris SSV championships at Dakar:
| Year | Winning Driver | Navigator | Polaris Race Vehicle |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Xavier de Soultrait | Martin Bonnet | RZR Pro R Factory |
| 2025 | Brock Heger | Max Eddy Jr. | RZR Pro R Factory |
| 2026 | Brock Heger | Max Eddy Jr. | RZR Pro R Rally |
Brock Heger and Max Eddy Jr. followed the 2024 championship with a dominant rookie victory at the 2025 Dakar Rally. They returned in 2026 and successfully defended their title, extending Polaris’ SSV winning streak to three consecutive years. Read our 2026 Dakar Rally report for the complete account of that third championship.
What began as a narrow victory for de Soultrait and Bonnet in January 2024 therefore became a defining milestone in the modern history of the Polaris RZR.
Explore more Polaris UTV news, reviews and model history on UTVGuide.net.
