Romain Bouzigon has watched his friend Benjamin Melot race the Dakar Rally and World Rally-Raid Championship, and now wants a piece of the action himself. On Thursday, Bouzigon announced his plans of competing at the 2025 Dakar Rally, and his first step towards earning a spot there will be the Rallye du Maroc in October.
“CRAZY, you have to be CRAZY to pursue your dreams! Well crazy, we are, and not just half,” began Bouzigon on social media. “Thanks to you, thanks to the strength and determination that you have awakened in us on the Dakar 2023, we will make these dreams come true! I am very proud to announce that I am embarking on the DAKAR 2025 motorcycle adventure! A childhood dream that would come true!
“I found out last week that all the planets were aligning for me to participate. There is only one thing missing today, and that is to URGENTLY complete the budget that would allow me to get started. So today I am looking for patrons, companies or private individuals, and I am selling boxes of wine to help me finance this rally, the first step on the road to DAKAR 2025. Friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances, enthusiasts, fake accounts, etc., if you want to follow me on this adventure, you are welcome.”
Bouzigon has competed in motocross for over fifteen years. In 2017, he and French Motocross Championship competitor Gaëtan Cadot co-founded the MX Performance Academy in Franche-Comté to train young motocross competitors. Melot, who has raced at Dakar since 2019, is an instructor at the school; Bouzigon accompanied Melot to Saudi Arabia for the 2023 Rally as a physical trainer, where Melot finished thirteenth in Rally2.
Outside of racing, he is the director of COPS 25, a facility focusing on cryotherapy and athletic recovery. A doctor in sports science from the University of Franche-Comté, he has published various academic journals such as an April 2020 piece discussing the potential use of cryotherapy for motocross riders between heat races.
Scheduled for 13–18 October, the Rallye du Maroc is a round on the Road to Dakar, meaning that if Bouzigon excels among all riders without prior Dakar Rally experience, he can earn free registration for the 2024 or 2025 editions.