Xavier de Soultrait has long competed in rally raid on two wheels, having won a stage at the Dakar Rally in the Bikes category and racing the event for eight years. For 2023, however, he will make the shift to four wheels as he races a Polaris RZR Pro in the SSV (T4) category for Sébastien Loeb Racing. Polaris Off-Road Vehicles will provide factory support as part of a new five-year deal with SLR.
Soultrait won the 2016 FIM Bajas World Cup and has claimed titles in enduro racing. As a factory rider for Yamaha, he made his Dakar début in 2014, and won his first stage in 2019 en route to a career-best seventh-place overall finish. After a string of retirements, however, he switched to Husqvarna and fielded his own entry as a privateer for the 2022 Rally, where he finished fifteenth.
“After carrying out side-by-side co-driver tests with Sébastien Loeb, we’re making progress on my switch to this category,” said Soultrait. “The requirement as a motorcycle or SSV rider is very high, and I hope that this next cycle will be as long as my first on two wheels. I will put in all the intensity and effort that’s needed to succeed in this new challenge. The Dakar Rally is about adventure and human encounters, and I think that the story with Sébastien Loeb Racing can become virtuous. Of course, the presence of Sébastien Loeb as our team boss will be precious because his experience and knowledge of the discipline will be necessary to help us progress faster. My desire to play the leading role, as I have tried to do in recent editions on two wheels, is intact. I’m sure it’s going to be another fun adventure and I can’t wait to start.”
Loeb is more known for his nine World Rally Championships but has increased his involvement in rally raid since retiring from full-time rallying. Racing in the T1 class for Bahrain Raid Xtreme, Loeb finished runner-up in the 2022 Dakar Rally and World Rally-Raid Championship to Nasser Al-Attiyah.
SLR has followed their owner to various series including the FIA World Touring Car and World Rallycross Championships, though Loeb races for other teams rather than his own.
“The Dakar is my current discipline that I have discovered over time and that I have learned to appreciate in recent years,” Loeb commented. “I think it’s a great challenge to take up. It is a difficult, long endurance race which highlights the collaboration between a team, its pilots, and its supporters. It’s great that we can engage in this discipline with SLR.
“Dominique (Heintz, team manager) started out in Dakar as a motorcycle rider, and it was important to him to return to this programme one day. The opportunity to work with a manufacturer like Polaris is particularly motivating for us. Exploiting the vehicles of Polaris is a great opportunity for our team. We will try to do great things together so why not win the category in the future?”
Polaris will seek to break the grip that Can-Am holds on T4 at Dakar. After Leandro Torres won the class in a RZR in 2017, Can-Ams have claimed the category every year since, including a podium sweep in the last four editions.
“An initial period of ten years has just ended during which we have experienced a lot of things that had a great impact on the whole team,” commented Heintz. “We are entering a new decade and want to mark the occasion with new projects. The future of the Sébastien Loeb Racing team will be rally raids. The Dakar is a monument and will remain so for a long time. The human factor makes this discipline a very unique competition.
“We will not take this new challenge lightly because it is necessary to master a number of subjects in this discipline and there is no place for chance. Humility has always been our way of working with Sébastien so we will keep a cool head to offer a competitive structure. We are exceptionally lucky to have Seb by our side on a program he knows well.
“This new adventure with Polaris is the logical continuation of our desire to work with prestigious manufacturers since the creation of the team. I am convinced that our collaboration will bring great things and we have already started working to be ready in early 2023. It’s an extremely difficult event, all scenarios must be considered and we are working on this with the Polaris teams.
“For me, the Dakar started thirty years ago and it’s an event that has guided my whole life, so it’s with great emotion that I want to take up this next challenge with my team.”