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Class 1 cars are unlimited open-wheel buggies with prominent manufacturers like Jimco, Alumicraft, and… Polaris?

Deciding to shake things up a bit, Polaris Factory Racing will enter their Polaris RZR Pro R Factory in Class 1 at the Baja 400 with Max Eddy Jr. as driver. It will be the first time a UTV competes in the category under SCORE International sanction.

Eddy and the RZR are typically in the SCORE Pro UTV Open class, where he is thirteenth in points after finishing fifth at the San Felipe 250 and retiring from the Baja 500. 2024 is his first season as a PFR factory driver after being a co-driver for team principal Craig Scanlon during their début campaign the year prior.

His colleagues Cayden MacCachren and Brock Heger, both of whom have spoken with The Checkered Flag this season, are respectively the current Pro UTV Open points leader and reigning champion and will remain in their usual category. Eddy will also be Heger’s navigator at the Dakar Rally in 2025; he served the same role at King of the Hammers in January, where they won their class in the Can-Am UTV Hammers Championship before Eddy finished second to Heger in the Toyo Tires Desert Challenge.

The switch to Class 1 stems from PFR being far too successful in their own class, winning Pro UTV Open at all four SCORE races in 2023 as well as both events so far in 2024. Besides being the fastest UTV outright in San Felipe and at the Baja 500, MacCachren also beat every Class 1 entry except for the winner in each instance. Furthermore, a rally version of the RZR Pro R Factory won the Dakar Rally’s SSV class in January.

On 16 August, The Checkered Flag spoke with Willem Avenant about his Dakar Rally début in 2025, the buildup to being accepted for the race, and his Decoding Dakar series.

The full transcript of the interview is available below. Some text has been altered from the actual dialogue to improve readability.

An article on the interview can be read here.

Transcript

TCF: It’s been about a month since you were accepted for Dakar. Has it sunk in yet that you’re actually going to be there in just a couple of months?

WA: [chuckles] It has, but some days I still have to pinch myself a little bit. A lot of people talk, decide in their middle age, they want to do Dakar. For me, it’s been like a childhood dream, literally since I can remember, since four or five—not four, let’s say six years old. It’s like, I want to do that. In the last, I would say, fifteen years, ever since I’ve been a grown up, it’s always formed part of my life. I was like, “Okay, if I want to do this, I actually have to get going. I actually have to do it. It’s not just going to happen.”

When the Amaury Sport Organisation anounced in the spring that Quads would no longer be at the Dakar Rally in 2025, 2024 class winner Manuel Andújar figured he would be watching from home. As it turns out, he’ll be in Saudi Arabia come January, albeit behind the wheel instead of handlebars.

Andújar plans to race the 2025 Dakar Rally in the SSV category, hopefully driving the Can-Am Maverick R once homologated by the FIA. In the meantime, he is set to make his SSV driving début in September at the Rally Raid San Rafael before entering the Rallye du Maroc in October. He confirmed his plans to Campeones Media on Wednesday.

He made the switch to SSVs in June when he won the Rally Raid San Juan as the co-driver for Juan Cruz Yacopini. It came just weeks after he clinched the World Rally-Raid Championship for Quads, and five months after earning his second Dakar victory in the category.

The ASO dropped Quads in April, after which Andújar contemplated taking a break from rallies before ultimately making the switch to a side-by-side. Many Quad riders have taken a similar avenue including Pablo Copetti, Rodolfo Guillioli, Juraj Varga, and ex-Dakar winners Josef Macháček, Ignacio Casale, and Sergei Kariakin; 2023 W2RC Quad champion Laisvydas Kancius has also moved to the FIA side, albeit in the top Ultimate class.

His Maverick R will feature his 7240 Team‘s branding, but is prepared by Jeremías González Ferioli‘s Ferioli Racing Team. Driving a Maverick R, Ferioli had won the Desafío Ruta 40 (where Andújar clinched the World Championship) in the Open Cars class.

Francisco Álvarez has pencilled in his Dakar Rally début for 2025, finally making use of the free registration he earned for winning the Road to Dakar at the 2023 Sonora Rally in Mexico.

Alvarez beat sixteen other riders at Sonora last year for the bike Road to Dakar ticket, which waived him of application fees for either the 2024 or 2025 Dakar Rally. He elected to skip the 2024 edition, explaining in January that it “gives me one year to prepare better and acquire the resources.

“Running the Dakar is not easy at all. It is something very difficult in many aspects in terms of preparation, physically too, learning to navigate, and apart from that, getting the resources in a country like Colombia where we have a small motorcycle culture.

“We have all of 2024 to do these and be able to take a competitive project to the Dakar in 2025 and achieve something similar to what we did in Sonora.”

Álvarez primarily competes in enduro, winning the Latin American championship in 2020 followed by the Colombian national title two years later in 2022. His achievements have allowed him to represent Colombia at the FIM International Six Days of Enduro, earning two silver medals and a bronze. He is also a multi-time national champion in motocross.

The 2024 Asia Cross Country Rally did not go to plan for Team Mitsubishi Ralliart and their upgraded Mitsubishi Triton, but the team feels they accumulated enough data to be confident in the truck for later races.

2022 winner Chayapon Yotha initially led the overall after three stages, but disaster struck him on the fifth and penultimate stage when a mechanical failure forced him to retire. Team-mate Kazuto Koide towed him to the end of the leg where he bowed out altogether.

With Yotha out of the picture, rival Toyota assumed the overall lead with Mana Pornsiricherd. Pornsiricherd finished the job by finishing sixth on the final day to score the first AXCR win for Toyota Gazoo Racing Thailand.

Katsuhiko Taguchi ended up being the team’s highest finisher in fifth overall after racing fairly conservatively. It was a three-spot improvement from his début in 2023. Sakchai Hantrakul finished a distant twenty-seventh due to a litany of problems that plagued his Triton. Koide was twenty-fifth, driving a 2023 Triton production car in a supporting role.

“I am happy to have improved my position from last year, but I am also disappointed because I had a good feeling that I could aim for a higher position,” commented Taguchi. “We will use this years’ experience as feedback to further improve the driving performance of the Triton next year, so that we can stay competitive at the top.”

It has been almost a year since the Can-Am Maverick R was revealed to rather mixed reception. Since then, however, it has quickly established itself as one of the best UTVs on the market.

This was highlighted during last weekend’s Vegas to Reno when Josh Row‘s Maverick R was the highest finishing UTV overall, while Maverick Rs swept the UTV Turbo Pro podium.

Row finished eighteenth overall and atop the UTV Open category. His Maverick R, prepared by Mitchell Alsup‘s Alsup Racing Development, battled with the Polaris RZR Pro R Factory of Max Eddy Jr. throughout the day. In the closing miles, Eddy suffered a flat tyre and had to pit, allowing Row to retake the lead and pull away.

Although Row had his own flat at one point, it was inconsequential as he set a time of 929:11.959. The fellow Maverick R of Joe Terrana finished forty-eight seconds back while Eddy received a one-minute speeding penalty to relegate him to third among all UTVs.

“The pace that everyone is running is pretty impressive,” said Row. “This race is really tough on the machines, especially in the heat of the day. Other than the flat tyre, we had a smooth day. We were able to persevere and put it on top so I’m really excited with the result.”

Willem Avenant has a dream: race the Dakar Rally. Of course, this is easier said than done.

The road to the world’s most iconic rally raid is difficult and perhaps convoluted due to the hoops and requirements that one must fulfill to be accepted by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Ever meticulous, Avenant resolved to not only qualify but unravel the twists and turns, or “decoding” it, so that anyone who wants to take part can have a coherent roadmap to use for reference.

After becoming one of the riders accepted for the 2025 Dakar Rally, Avenant spoke with The Checkered Flag last Friday about his efforts and his Decoding Dakar series.

Dreaming of Dakar

Avenant grew up following the Paris–Dakar Rally in South Africa. Like many others, this sparked a desire to race it himself. Into his adult years, he dabbled in various rallies in his home country as well as North America such as the Kalahari Rally in South Africa and the Sonora Rally. In 2023, he was named the competition director for the Baja Rally, which like Sonora is a cross-country rally in Mexico that many Dakar-bound Americans have used for training.

Besides racing, he specialises in navigation. He honed his skills during the COVID-19 pandemic by working on developing roadbooks before becoming an instructor for navigation schools and camps.

NASCAR Classic, Historic Sportscar Racing‘s stock car vintage racing series, is set to make its début this weekend at Virginia International Raceway in support of the IMSA Michelin GT Challenge. As the title sponsor, Petty’s Garage is more than prepared to provide their expertise and support.

“There isn’t a better fit for our services than vintage stock car owners, teams, and racers,” commented Petty’s Garage COO Greg Steadman. “Our championship history, built by the Petty family and generations of stock cars best, all came through the doors of Petty’s Garage. We pride ourselves on that same craftmanship and can help anyone with projects large or small to get to the track.

“We really are the best solution after your race too. From body repair, tuning, to stripping the car down and making it fresh for your next event, this is what we offer. We prioritise safety of the vehicle and also give you the best performance parts from our shop.

“It’s an exciting time for classic stock car racing with so many cars in competition. We have an open door for anyone.”

Petty’s Garage is an aftermarket automotive parts distributor whose lineage can be traced to NASCAR Cup Series team Petty Enterprises’ formation in 1949. It acquired its current identity in 2008 when Petty Enterprises became Richard Petty Motorsports, and continues to operate out of the old Petty Enterprises shop in Level Cross, North Carolina, while the race programme—now Legacy Motor Club—is based in Statesville.

Mitsubishi is the latest manufacturer to enter the T1+ arena with their latest challenger, the Triton Ultimate Racing. Guiga Spinelli will début the vehicle at next week’s Rally dos Sertões.

The Triton was designed in a partnership between Spinelli Racing and Mitsubishi Motors Brasil. Approximately thirty team members contributed to the effort, which began following the 2023 race.

“Seeing this Brazilian car being born and now moving on to testing and development in the biggest rally in the Americas is a great source of pride,” said Spinelli. “We used the most advanced technology materials and components from the top manufacturers in the sport in this car, but we had a very short time to execute the project, which further represents the strength, competence, and dedication of our team.

“At Sertões 2024, we will have an excellent testing laboratory, an opportunity to better understand where we are with the car’s development and to evolve every day. We are confident in the capacity and high level of competitiveness that this prototype can gradually reach.”

Spinelli finished thirteenth in the 2023 Rally dos Sertões, where he drove a Mitsubishi L200 Triton Sport. It was Mitsubishi Motors Brasil’s first start since the 2015 Dakar Rally with Carlos Sousa, while the parent company was previously a twelve-time Dakar winner before cutting back in 2009.

With his passing Sunday at the age of 88, Alain Delon leaves behind a legacy of one of the most iconic actors in European film. His impact also extends to motorsport as well, even if rather subtle.

A longtime racing fan, Delon was the first actor to be the official starter for the 24 Hours of Le Mans when he waved the French tricolour to start the 1996 race. Although Steve McQueen had served a similar capacity in 1971, that was as the honourary president who accompanied the actual starter, Ambassador Arthur K. Watson.

That was not his first foray at Circuit de la Sarthe either. In 1980, he and his then-girlfriend Mireille Darc attended the race as the sponsor of Scuderia Lancia Corsa‘s Lancia Montecarlo Turbo driven by fellow Frenchman Bernard Darniche, Hans Heyer, and Teo Fabi. However, the team was knocked out by an engine failure.

The sponsorship was through Parfums Alain Delon, a perfume brand that Delon owned. He had started to expand into various business interests during the 1970s thanks to his growing fame in cinema including watches, clothing, and sunglasses.

A year after Le Mans, Delon’s own portrait appeared on the AMC Eagle of Jean-Pierre Kurrer as Parfums Alain Delon once again served as a car sponsor. French artist and sculptor Alain Aslan painted Delon’s image on the hood of the car. Much like the Lancia at Le Mans, however, Kurrer did not finish the race. 1981 was Kurrer’s third Dakar after running the first two editions in a Cournil, whose creator’s son and boss Alain Cournil passed away a week before Delon.

After a decade with MAZ-SPORTauto in which he contested the Dakar Rally five times, Aliaksei Vishneuski has departed the team and his rally raid career as a whole seems to be on the backburner now. On Friday, the team announced he has parted ways and teased that he plans to focus on drifting instead.

“Aliaksei Vishneuski is leaving the MAZ-SPORTavto team today,” begins the team statement on Friday.

“Aliaksei has been a part of the team since 2015. In 2016, he made his debut as a pilot of the MAZ sports truck at the Zoloto Kagana race. Over nine years of work, he has taken part in more than 30 rally raids as part of the MAZ-SPORTauto team.

“Now, Aliaksei is a five-time participant of the international rally raid Dakar Rally, an eight-time participant of the international Silk Way Rally, a prize winner of the international rally raid Morocco Desert Challenge, and a multiple title winner of the Championship of the Republic of Belarus in rally raids.

“Aliaksei’s crew has competed on equal terms with the best crews in the world in the truck category for many years, representing the Minsk Automobile Plant and the Republic of Belarus in the international sports arena.

Manuel Andújar only needed one race to prove that he can win in a side-by-side vehicle, but that was as a co-driver. In September, he will see if he can repeat the feat on the left-side seat.

Andújar will make his début as an SSV driver at the Campeonato Argentino de Rally Raid‘s (CaNav Rally Raid) Rally Raid San Rafael, where he is slated to drive a Can-Am Maverick R with Sergio Lafuente as his navigator. It will be his second go in an SSV after he called the shots for Juan Cruz Yacopini at the Rally Raid San Juan in June, where they won.

He is among many Quad riders who made the switch to SSVs following the news that their category has been dropped from the Dakar Rally from 2025 onwards. Andújar had claimed what turned out to be the final Dakar for his class in January, his second triumph after 2021, before clinching the World Rally-Raid Championship for Quads at the Desafío Ruta 40 in June.

The Argentine had contemplated a sabbatical from rally raids after winning the W2RC, but the opportunity to race alongside his friend Yacopini in San Juan came up and was too good to refuse.

Lafuente is currently the navigator for SSV driver Rebecca Busi in the W2RC. Like Andújar, he was a Quad rider prior to switching to cars, winning the DR 40 thrice as well as three Dakar stages.

It’s difficult to go back to back in many sporting events, let alone a race. Ryan Arciero one-upped that by going back to back to back to back at the Vegas to Reno.

He chased down Trick Truck pole sitter Nic Whetstone and the two traded blows before the latter had to stop and change a flat tyre at Rawhide, the eleventh pit area at Race Mile 427. The setback enabled Arciero to assume the physical and time leads before pulling away in the final 128 miles. While not a perfect run for Arciero as he had his share of flats, he mitigated the damage to keep pace with his rival throughout.

“We caught up to Nick and just stayed with him from the from the green flag,” recapped Arciero. “It was just trying to be able to know that I couldn’t catch him, I couldn’t I couldn’t get around him running because the dust was so bad, but to be patient through the dust was the key. We got a couple of flat tyres that kind of dinged us, but we were able to bridge the gap back to him and just kept the pressure on him until he finally got a flat again and we took advantage of it. It was right before Rawhide and so we made it.”

Arciero beat Whetstone by nearly eleven minutes for his fourth straight Vegas to Reno win, setting the record for longest overall win streak in the event. Arciero also ties Jason Voss for the most V2R wins, with Voss claiming four across a five-year span between 2013 and 2017 (Andy McMillin prevented Voss from a five-peat by winning in 2016).

His dominance at Best In The Desert‘s premier race stands in contrast to his misfortunes at the Mint 400, held outside the V2R’s starting point of Las Vegas. Arciero tended to be struck by some sort of misfortune that ruined his Mint, oftentimes while leading; the latest edition in March saw him fight for the lead before a broken driveline hit him on the final lap. On the other hand, point-to-point racing in Nevada has been much kinder to him.

Toyota Gazoo Racing is one of the most well known marques in international motorsport with plenty of success from either their flagship team or their regional subsidiaries. However, for all the Dakar Rallies and World Rally-Raid Championships it has won, a Toyota Hilux had never won the Asia Cross Country Rally.

That finally changed in 2024. In their seventh try at the race, Toyota Gazoo Racing Thailand broke through as Mana Pornsiricherd narrowly defeated the Isuzu D-Max of Suwat Limjirapinya for the win.

Driving a Toyota Hilux Revo, Pornsiricherd won the opening leg but went off course and finished a paltry twenty-fifth in Stage #2, dropping him to seventeenth. He clawed his way back up the order with a third in Stage #3 before winning the fourth to move up into second behind 2022 winner Chayapon Yotha of rival Team Mitsubishi Ralliart.

Although leading by twenty-four minutes after four days, Yotha’s rally came to an abrupt end with a mechanical failure on the penultimate stage. Team-mate Kazuto Koide towed him to the finish, but a three-hour time penalty ended his race. Pornsiricherd inherited the overall lead with another stage win. Limjirapinya claimed the last stage in an Isuzu D-Max 1–2–3 finish while Pornsiricherd was sixth, but the former could not close the gap.

Thongchai Klinkate, who finished second in Stage #6, was third to win the T2A-D class for production cars. TGR driver Ikuo Hanawa, who has been focused on desert races in North America like SCORE International and the Mint 400, missed out on the podium after leading the overall following two legs. Defending champion Takuma Aoki placed seventh.

Johan Kristoffersson overcame the disappointment of Saturday’s result in emphatic fashion by taking a superb victory in round 6 of the 2024 FIA World Rallycross Championship. The six-time world champion showed his class by roaring to victory at the Circuit Jules Tacheny in Mettet, Belgium, followed by Kevin Hansen, securing his second podium of the weekend, and Kristoffersson’s teammate and podium regular Ole Christian Veiby rounding out the top 3.

Kristoffersson looked peerless all day. In the heats, he got the better of the all-electric Hansen World RX Team cars, claiming victory in both heat races. Meanwhile, Niclas Grönholm recovered from a genuinely disastrous Saturday, when he was unable to hook up his PWR RX1e at all, to take victory in both of his heat races.

In the first semi-final, a great battle raged between Veiby and Saturday’s winner Timmy Hansen. The Peugeot driver found himself squeezed up the inside on the way into turn 1. However, the 2019 world champion refused to give way, leading to a great skirmish as they charged down the hill. Veiby and Hansen battled throughout the rest of the race, allowing Kristoffersson to drive off into the distance.

Semi-final two came down to a battle of the all-electric cars. Anthony Pelfrene, driver of the internal combustion engine (ICE) Peugeot 208, has demonstrated great pace this weekend but ultimately was unable to defeat Kevin Hansen or the two CE Dealer Team cars on this occasion. The Frenchman gave Hansen a run for his money though, battling throughout the early part of the race. Out front, Grönholm was able to build his lead and head to victory in his semi-final, followed by Hansen and Klara Andersson.

As is so often the case in rallycross, the start of the final was crucial. Kristoffersson managed to keep his nose in front of a very rapid Grönholm into turn 1. Kevin Hansen scampered past Grönholm on the gravel section and did his best to close the gap to Kristoffersson, while Veiby went for his joker lap on lap 2. Kevin Hansen dived into his joker lap on lap 4, pulling off one of the moves of the weekend to get his car back across the track to defend his position from Veiby.