Polaris

Desert Dominance: How Polaris Pulled Off a SXS Win at Dakar

1. Less than half of the 432 vehicles that entered the 2025 Dakar Rally survived the nearly 5,000-mile journey to the finish line. The Polaris Factory Racing team pulled off the most impressive SSV class victory in nearly a decade. The latest Polaris RZR Pro R has been tested, refined, and proven through three years of racing R&D, with much of that development being done through actual racing. Brock Heger and copilot Max Eddy had everything they needed—all that was left was to devise a strategy, which historically plays a huge role in a multi-day rally like the Dakar.
2. To stand on top of a Dakar podium is a lifetime achievement, and that’s just where Polaris Factory Racing driver Brock Heger and copilot Max Eddy wanted to be. Of the 432 vehicles that entered the 2025 Dakar Rally, less than half would ultimately survive the nearly 5,000-mile journey to the finish line. Heger and his Polaris Factory Racing RZR Pro R were just one of 51 teams gunning for victory, and this was Heger’s first-ever multi-day rally race.
3. Polaris is coming off an undefeated podium sweep down in Mexico, with Brock himself taking top honors most recently at the prestigious Baja 1000 just a few months ago. Over the course of the Dakar, Brock and Max suffered little more than a few tire punctures along the way, which are all but unavoidable in desert racing. All the most important bits that have to work did so without fail. Brock and Max attribute much of this to the simple fact that if it works down in Mexico, it’s going to work in Saudi Arabia.
4. Before finding success in the four-wheeled world, Eddy enjoyed one of the most decorated careers in motorcycle racing with five wins apiece at both the Baja 1000 and Baja 500 events. Neither Brock nor Max were able to quote a ballpark figure of just how much time they spent honing their navigation skills. Here’s the training schedule they underwent: one full week in Lake Havasu, Arizona, dialing in engine calibration; one full week out in the Glamis Dunes tuning the suspension for deep sand; one full week in Pahrump, Nevada, training navigation with off-road legend Jimmy Lewis; and one full week in Sonora, Mexico, learning to use the Dakar-specific digital roadbook.
5. The terrain and speeds that the car is built to handle down in Baja are much harder on the equipment than those in Saudi Arabia, which means the single greatest challenge of the rally was actually navigation. The team’s decision to bring Eddy on board for this year’s Dakar was a no-brainer as he may be the most qualified navigator in desert racing today. Polaris even flew last year’s Dakar winner Xavier de Soultrait into Mexico to join Brock and Max for the week.
6. Following a massive win like Brock and Max’s—capturing the SSV category victory at the 47th Dakar Rally by a two-hour margin—it’s easy to chalk results this dramatic up to equal parts luck, talent, and sheer force of will. Did raw talent see Brock and Max across the finish line this year? How much of it should we attribute to sheer luck, grit, or even hubris? Fortune may favor the bold, but there’s another axiom at play that better explains the team’s dominance: hard work pays off.