Two Minotor CH1 hybrid light prototypes will enter the 2026 Dakar Rally with Stéphane Sarrazin and Luís Portela Morais. It will be the first Dakar for Sarrazin while Portela runs his fourth.

Sarrazin is a longtime sports car racer with four runner-up overall finishes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and two Le Mans Series titles. He has also competed in Formula E and V8 Supercars, and did a one-off in Formula One.

Although the Frenchman is mainly known for his pavement racing endeavors, he also has decades of experience in rallying. Sarrazin has sporadically competed in WRC since 2004 and won the 2014 Tour de Corse in the European Rally Championship, and ran much of the inaugural Extreme E season in 2021. He continues to dabble in the French national tarmac championship.

Portela made his Dakar debut in 2017 on a bike before switching to four wheels, finishing seventh in T4 at the 2022 Dakar. He later joined G Rally Team and debuted their new G-ECKO T3 car in the 2025 Dakar Rally, but retired halfway. In September, he won the first stage at the W2RC’s BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal in a Polaris RZR.

The Minotor was chiefly built by brothers Antoine and Benoît Reul for competition in the T3.U subclass, which is reserved for hybrid and electric light prototypes. Apache Automotive’s APH-01 and -03 are the only other cars to have competed in T3.U.

A prototype was on display at the Rallye du Maroc in October.

Featured image credit: ReulSport