Former Dakar Rally bike champions Toby Price and Sam Sunderland followed in the footsteps of legend Stéphane Peterhansel when they teamed up in a Toyota Hilux Overdrive T1+ for the 2025 edition to see if their experience could translate from two wheels to four in the Ultimate class.
They faced tough competition from Carlos Sainz, Sébastien Loeb, and Nasser Al-Attiyah at the 47th edition, held from January 3 to 17 in Saudi Arabia, with participants covering over 5,000 kilometres across 14 days of competition. A new video on YouTube delves into their incredible journey to Dakar 2025.
Frenchman Peterhansel won six Dakars on various bikes, then switched up to the car category and reeled off a further eight victories over the last 20 years to cement his Dakar legend status.
Australian Price, 37, won his first Dakar in 2016 for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, then followed up with his second in 2019 riding with a broken bone before finishing fifth last year in Saudi Arabia.
Briton Sunderland, 35, also has two Dakar titles to his name with the first coming on a Red Bull KTM Factory Racing bike in 2017 before he doubled up in 2022 for Gas Gas ahead of two DNFs the past two years that led to his July 2024 announcement that he would be retiring from racing bikes.
Here is what the two former champions had to say ahead of their 2025 car debut that finished valiantly on Stage 7 when they were forced to retire due to health after Sunderland suffered from concussion:
How will you cope with expectations to be immediately successful in a completely new category?
Sam: “I don’t feel any pressure. I imagine that people looking on from outside have expectations on us, but our own desire to do well is so much bigger than all of that. We’ve got a really cool opportunity in front of us, we’re in a mega car with a great team around us and I’m looking forward to getting thrown into the deep end to figure things out. I love that kind of challenge. We haven’t worked our way up through the other four-wheel categories (SSV & Challenger). We’ve gone straight from bikes to the big cars, so the idea is to build throughout the race. If we both perform to our best, then there’s no reason why we can’t surprise a few people.”
What is different about your preparation for this Dakar compared to the other times?
Toby: “My base fitness is still good and I know how to stay focused. We’ve not had too much seat time in the car, probably about 500km of driving in total. We know it gets hot in the car, so that’s something you need to prepare for because it can affect your focus. The first week of this Dakar is going to be difficult, so we’re just going to try and nail down a good rhythm. A big change for Sam and me is talking to each other in the car because we’re both so used to being alone on a bike.”
How did you know it was the right time to step away from the bike race?
Sam: “It’s something that had been on my mind for a while. My 2022 season went great. In 2023 it felt like I was now pushing the ball uphill. Everything was super tricky; a lot of crashes and injuries to deal with, and then I had a mechanical failure at the 2024 Dakar Rally after working so hard to come back. I don’t think you decide when you stop, in some way the decision gets made for you. I listened to the warning signs rather than wait for something more serious to happen and the choice was taken out of my hands. I felt sad because I love racing bikes, but I had a good run before time crept up on me.”
What are the toughest aspects of adapting to a new vehicle, a new team and a new category?
Toby: “It’s a massive change. Here at Overdrive, it’s a huge operation with more vehicles and more people than I’m used to. Remembering everybody’s name on the team has been one of the toughest things so far. These guys have been coming to the Dakar Rally for many years, the car has been thoroughly tested and everything behind the scenes is solid. Now it’s up to Sam and me to do the job properly and prove ourselves on four wheels. We both want to be doing this for a long time to come.”
What skills do you already possess that will help you co-drive and where can you improve?
Sam: “I wasn’t naive enough to think that because I’d navigated on a bike that I was 100% ready to be a co-driver. Your vision in the car is really restricted compared to on a bike where you can look all around. It can be a bit claustrophobic in a car and is way more physical on the neck and head. On a bike the rocks are a problem, coming into them quick is terrifying but for a car they’re nothing. On the other hand, on a bike, the compressions were nothing but in a car you need to watch out for. Specific to my job as a co-driver, when the car is going 170kph the pace notes come really quick. There’s some quick math that needs to be done and that’s something I’m working on figuring out.”
How will your experiences behind the wheel at Baja and Finke races benefit you at the Dakar?
Toby: “I’ve won races in a Trophy Truck, but now I’m at the Dakar behind the wheel of a T1+ car. We’re bringing 350 horsepower compared to a 1,000 horsepower Trophy Truck, but if you brought a Trophy Truck here you’d only last about 30 kilometres because the car is so heavy. Our Hilux is purposely built for the desert and other rally-raids in the middle of nowhere on tough terrain.”
What will you miss most about racing a bike at the Dakar and what will you not miss at all?
Sam: “I went and saw the KTM guys to wish them all the best. It felt a bit weird not to be dressed up in orange myself, but also I didn’t feel like that’s what I wanted. I took that as a good sign that I’ve made the right choice. I’m not going to miss those cold, early morning liaison bike rides.”
How would you describe your relationship with your new co-driver Sam?
Toby: “Sam and me have been getting along great since I met him 10 years ago at my very first Dakar Rally. Since that day, we’ve always had a laugh and done a lot of racing together. Sam retired from bikes this year, so it was the perfect chance to partner up and make a cool story of it. There’s enough experience to do a pretty good job. We’ll try to enjoy each day and hopefully get ourselves into the mix. If we do well, it’ll encourage more bike guys to try and make the switch to cars.”
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