Gediminas Satkus locked in for Dakar Rally debut in 2025

The AG Dakar School in Lithuania has produced another Dakar Rally-bound graduate. On Wednesday, Gediminas Satkus confirmed he has been accepted for the 2025 edition, marking his first foray into the legendary race.

Satkus qualified with a nineteenth in Rally2 at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in March, where he overcame a battery failure at the midway point to notch a best run of sixteenth in Stage #4. It was his second time running the ADDC after an eighteenth in class in the 2023 edition.

Between ADDCs, he entered the fellow World Rally-Raid Championship round Rallye du Maroc but retired after crashing in Stage #3. 2023 also saw him compete in the Rallye Breslau in Poland, where fell off his bike early on yet managed to reach the finish.

Outside of rally raid, Satkus competes in enduro including the Red Bull Romaniacs in 2022 He also works as a managing director for mineral supplier Minterra FZE in the United Arab Emirates.

AG Dakar School is run by Arūnas Gelažninkas, a two-time winner of the Dakar’s Original by Motul (Malle Moto) subcategory. At the 2024 Dakar in January, he was the co-driver for his wife Emilija Gelažninkienė in the SSV category. The school also prepared a bike for Modestas Siliunas in the race, but his maiden Dakar ended after eight legs.

“When hard work, not giving up even due to severe injuries (you probably all remember Gediminas being thrown off the route in Morocco), and a clear goal pays off: from zero to Dakar in just a few years? Everything is possible because our slogan ‘Ride Hard or Go Home’ is a reflection of the team,” reads a statement from the team. “We can do anything as long as we think we can. [Gediminas is] the second member of our team to stand at the start line of the Dakar. We are happy, proud, and will go together all the way to the finish line of the Dakar Rally.”

As a final dress rehearsal, he will enter the Rallye du Maroc on 6–11 October. The 2025 Dakar Rally runs on 3–17 January.

The Amaury Sport Organisation began sending out acceptance letters for the 2025 Dakar last Friday.