Mathieu Feuvrier grew up following the Dakar Rally when it ran from his native France to Dakar in Senegal. While the race now takes place in Saudi Arabia, his interest persists and he hopes to tackle the legendary rally in 2025. His roadmap to get there has included the 2022 and 2023 Rallyes du Maroc, the final race of the World Rally-Raid Championship, and the path only grew clearer upon reaching the finish at the latter.
Feuvrier finished forty-sixth in the 2023 Rallye du Maroc’s Rally2 class, his début in the category after placing seventh in Rally3 at the 2022 edition. He had back-to-back runs of fifty-eighth in the first two stages, the latter coming despite an early roadbook malfunction that forced him to scroll by hand; other riders like Bruno Leblanc, who earned his ticket to the 2024 Dakar Rally with his Morocco performance, also experienced the same issue. He finished a position higher in Stage #3 of fifty-seventh.
The fourth stage, the longest of the rally, proved to also be the hardest which prompted Feuvrier to race conservatively. This ultimately paid off as he avoided penalties and errors and finished fifty-first. He ended the rally with a forty-first in the fifth and final stage.
Feuvrier described the race as a “pleasure from start to finish”. Such a performance, along with his past qualifications like the 2022 Rallye du Maroc, would have already been enough to be accepted for the 2024 Dakar Rally though he elected to continue for another year to further train and refine his skills.
As a privateer, he also plans to use 2024 to gain more sponsors. Outide of rallies, he competes in sand races like the Enduropale du Touquet, where he finished 583rd overall in the 2023 edition. Fellow Dakar aspirants like Marshall Méplon, Maxime Pouponnot, and Sébastien Herbet raced alongside Feuvrier at the Enduropale du Tuoquet followed by Morocco.
Should Feuvrier run more W2RC races in 2024, he can compete to earn free admission to the 2025 Dakar Rally under the Road to Dakar programme. Rider selection for Dakar 2025 will take place on 15 July 2024.