Polaris broke Can-Am’s rally raid chokehold in January when Xavier de Soultrait won the Dakar Rally’s SSV category, marking the manufacturer’s first victory in the race since 2017.

On Friday, Polaris released the first episode of a multi-part series titled Tough Doesn’t Quit: Defending Dakar, focusing on Soultrait and navigator Martin Bonnet’s preparations for the 2025 race as well as those of new teammates Brock Heger and his co-driver Max Eddy Jr.

Both crews will be racing the 2025 Polaris RZR Pro R Factory for Sébastien Loeb Racing in partnership with Polaris Factory Racing. PFR is currently one of the top UTV teams in American desert racing, having won the last two SCORE Pro UTV Open titles with Heger.

Heger, one of the top American off-road prospects with championships in short course and desert racing, is making his Dakar debut. Last month, he won his class at the Baja 1000. Eddy returns to Dakar after five years away.

Soultrait won three stages en route to the 2024 Dakar SSV triumph. SLR colleague Florent Vayssade added a stage win of his own and finished tenth; although not featured in TDQ, he will return to the team for 2025.

“We went and won, we know that Can-Am’s not happy about that and we know they’re going to come hard,” said PFR technical director Alex Scheuerell in the episode. In an interview during the 2024 race, he revealed PFR had developed the RZR Pro R Factory with rally in mind; unlike the desert model, the rally car (internally labeled “international or FIA”) comes with more bodywork for spare parts. “I think it just goes to show how strong our racers are and how strong this Sébastien Loeb Racing team is.”

Tough Doesn’t Quit was launched in late October, following those sponsored by Polaris and the trials they faced throughout their lives and careers. Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg was the first person covered by the series followed by Heger and the Wright rodeo riding family.

Episode 1 on YouTube

Featured image credit: Polaris Off-Road Vehicles