Every January, a certain kind of man finds himself glued to whatever screen he can find, coffee getting cold while the desert kicks up storms of sand on the live timing. For the last two years that screen has shown the same thing: a Polaris RZR crossing the final bivouac ramp with the number one plate. 2024 belonged to Xavier de Soultrait. 2025 was Brock Heger’s turn. Now the question hanging over every shop, garage, and hunting lease in America is simple – can they make it three in a row?
Polaris just dropped the hammer with their official 2026 Dakar lineup, and it’s the deepest, meanest roster the SSV category has ever seen. Five drivers, two different vehicle platforms, one goal: bring that trophy back to Minnesota again.
The Heavy Hitters Up Front
Leading the charge in the brand-new SSV1 category – think factory-hotrod rules with fewer restrictions – are the two guys who already know what the top step feels like.
Brock Heger isn’t just the reigning champion; the California kid just wrapped up the SCORE International championship too. Guys who’ve raced against him say the same thing: the RZR looks like it’s on cruise control even when it’s flat-out across 100-mile dunes. Smooth, smart, never wastes a second or a horsepower. That’s the kind of driving that wins Dakars when half the field is broken or lost.
Right beside him in an identical all-new machine is Xavier de Soultrait. The Frenchman spent years on two wheels getting punched in the face by the Dakar before he jumped into side-by-sides and promptly won the whole damn thing in 2024. Calm as a Sunday drive until it’s time to send it, then suddenly he’s gone. Having those two trading stage wins and watching each other’s backs is the kind of one-two punch most teams only dream about.
Polaris built a completely new car from the ground up for these guys – they’re calling it the Pro R Rally. Carbon dash, MoTeC electronics, trick semi-active DYNAMIX suspension that adjusts on the fly, and those wild side scoops that double as number boards. Everything designed for one thing: surviving two weeks of Saudi rocks, sand, and 120-degree heat while still being fast enough to scare the factory buggies.
The Proven Guns in T4
While Heger and de Soultrait hunt the overall in SSV1, Polaris is keeping two bullets in the chamber running the tried-and-true RZR Pro R Factory in the production-based T4 class.
First up is Johan Kristoffersson. Yeah, the same guy who’s won the World Rallycross Championship more times than most of us have changed oil. Swede can drive anything with wheels – snow, asphalt, dirt, doesn’t matter. Precision like a surgeon and ice water in his veins. If the T4 fight comes down to the last stage, nobody you’d rather have behind the wheel.
Rounding out the five is Florent Vayssade. French, quiet, tough as nails. Dude was an Olympic-level kayaker before he decided motorcycles and then side-by-sides were more fun. Multiple Dakars under his belt already, knows every trick for nursing a car across 500-mile stages when the temperature gauge is screaming and the GPS is spinning.
Every one of these rigs will have a top-shelf co-driver riding shotgun, with the full Sébastien Loeb-backed FrayMédia Motorsport crew turning wrenches and calling strategy. When you’ve got nine-time world rally champ Loeb’s outfit building your assistance trucks, you know the operation is serious.
Why This Actually Matters
Look, most of us will never line up on a Dakar start ramp. But every guy who’s ever pointed a side-by-side down a two-track at dusk knows the feeling – that rush when the tires break loose and the horizon opens up. Polaris winning Dakar isn’t just marketing. It’s proof that the same RZR you can buy at the dealership on Saturday can, with the right build and the right nuts behind the wheel, go out and embarrass factory teams with budgets bigger than some countries.
Three in a row would be uncharted territory. Nobody’s ever done it in the modern side-by-side era. The French teams are coming hard, the Spaniards have new cars, and Red Bull is throwing money around like confetti. Saudi Arabia keeps making the route longer and meaner every year – 2026 runs January 3 through 17 with more dunes and less liaison than ever.
But when the flag drops, it’ll be two factory-fresh Polaris machines leading the SSV pack into the empty quarter, chasing the same thing every red-blooded gearhead understands: proving your stuff is the fastest, toughest, most reliable iron out there.
Stock up on coffee, boys. January is going to be good.
