As the only Italian manufacturer in the competition, Fantic is fielding seven XEF 450 Rally bikes in the world’s most prestigious rally raid event to mark the start of the 2025 season.
It's the event that opens the year of motorsport, and with the advent of 2025, the great Dakar organizational machine is getting ready to go. As in the last five editions, also this one takes place entirely in Saudi Arabia. It is scheduled to start on Friday, January 3, with the prologue in Bisha, before finishing two weeks later, on January 17, in Shubaytah, in the east of the country. In total, riders will cover nearly 8,000 kilometers in the desert, more than 5,000 of which are timed special stages.
After recovering the vehicles at the port of Jeddah on December 30, the teams travelled to Bisha, the base camp of Dakar 2025, where the technical and administrative checks have taken place as well as the shake down, to get everything set for the great adventure.
Everything is ready for the highlight of the year in the Rally Raid calendar and Fantic is at the start with an impressive line-up of 7 riders. This year, the Italian brand has doubled its efforts with three factory riders—Tommaso Montanari, Jeremy Miroir, and Sandra Gomez—and a large satellite programme featuring supported riders Al Balooshi, Tomas De Gavardo, Rafic Eid Bassam, and Maxime Pouponnot.
At the Fantic bivouac there is great enthusiasm. The race will immediately get into full swing with the 48 Hour Chrono as early as the second special followed by the marathon stage, without assistance.
Sandra Gomez:
“New year, new team, new bike. This is my third Dakar, I carry the experience with me and I think it is essential for this extraordinary adventure that has no equal. It is true that I have done a lot of enduro, hard enduro, and everything helps, but the Dakar requires respect. The goal is to take it one day at a time and get to the end.”
Jeremy Miroir:
“This is my second Dakar with Fantic and I look forward to start. I have been training a lot. I did several races in France and the Rallye du Maroc with the whole Fantic team. It has been a good preparation and I'm sure it will pay off because we have very long and very hard stages ahead of us from the first week. Last year everything was new, this year I can count on more experience built on the field. The goal is to finish and improve my result.”
Tommaso Montanari:
“I am really happy to be here and I already feel the adrenaline of the race. I have been working hard to get back on the bike as being at the start was not exactly a given. I'm still not 100 percent after the bad crash I had at the Rallye du Maroc, but I'm excited. It will be important to have a smart first week to understand how hard I can push.”
Matilde Tomagnini, Fantic Rally Raid Project Manager:
“We are proud to be at the start as the only Italian manufacturer committed to the Dakar. It is the toughest off-road race in the world and synonymous with vehicle reliability. We line up at the start of Dakar 2025 with a fantastic team and no less than seven Fantic XEF 450 Rally. In the official Fantic Factory Rally Team, Montanari and Miroir are joined by multiple champion Sandra Gomez from Spain. The big news this year is also the program for ‘satellite riders’ who will enjoy Fantic support. Our efforts have doubled, and to support this, we have also increased the number of technicians and mechanics. We are proud to have experienced riders of six different nationalities. Tommaso Montanari will be flying the flag for Italy, from France we have Miroir and Pouponnot, Sandra Gomez from Spain, Tomas de Gavardo from Chile, Al Balooshi from the Emirates and Rafic Eid Bassam from Lebanon. The goal is to bring all the riders to the finish line and improve on last year's results.”
