Gabriel Valentin will race the Dakar Classic for the first time in 2026, driving a 1988 Range Rover like the ones that his father fielded at the Paris–Dakar Rally in the 1990s.

Supermarché DB, a supermarket chain run by his family, first entered the Dakar Rally in 1988 with Max Mamers driving a “Raymondis” Range Rover.

Valentin had long been a fan of the unrelated World Rally Championship, admiring drivers like Didier Auriol and Dakar winner Carlos Sainz. While he never pursued a racing career professionally, instead going into marketing, he competes in historic rallies.

His main rally steed is the 1977 Lancia Beta Montecarlo S1, featuring a livery based on the Martini-sponsored Lancia 037. He and Martini Racing began their partnership in 2018 to commemorate Martini Racing’s 50th anniversary, after which he bought the Montecarlo.

The Lancia primarily appears at the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique, finishing 231st overall in its debut in 2018. Valentin continues to race the Lancia today, and placed 103rd overall at the most recent RMCH in January.

Next January, however, he plans to tackle historic rally raid for the first time. He had been in Tunisia to train for the race with Amor Sanhouri and his Sahara Experience. Mamers and 1993 Dakar winner Bruno Saby, whose “Espoir Isère contre le Cancer” foundation sponsors his historic rally efforts, will be the “godfathers” of Valentin’s Classic program while Valentin’s rally co-driver Laurent Bertaut is once again in the navigator’s seat for Dakar.

After Dakar, Valentin plans to return to Monte Carlo in 2027.

Off track, he is a journalist for cigar magazine L’Amateur de Cigare.

UPDATE (May 21): Article now has additional context from Valentin about his team.

Featured image credit: Gabriel Valentin