Marc Joineau, one of the Paris–Dakar Rally’s bike pioneers in the 1980s, will enter the 2026 Africa Eco Race on a Kove 450 Rally. He previously raced the AER in 2020.

Joineau and his brother Philippe raced the Dakar Rally in its infant years predominantly for Suzuki France. The former made his debut in 1980, where he finished tenth on a Suzuki SP 370 before bouncing between various bikes like the PE 250 and DR 500. In 1983, he and his DR 500 finished third overall.

After a brief stint with Honda in 1984, he returned to Suzuki for the next three years but was never able to recapture the magic of the ’83 run. Eventually, he switched to driving buggies and finished 50th in 1988 in one. The Joineau brothers later started building their own buggies. Joineau’s last Dakar as a driver was in 2003, placing fifth in Class 2.3 before becoming Alexandre Debanne’s navigator for the 2004 and 2005 races.

15 years after his last Dakar, Joineau felt the itch to ride again and entered the 2020 Africa Eco Race on a BHR 450 R. The AER follows the Dakar Rally’s former route to the Senegalese capital. However, his race only lasted five stages before exiting. Although now 68 years old, he wants to go out on a high note.

“Physically, I’m fine and I’m still in shape,” he told Christophe Cavens of Africa Race Mémories. “I’m training for this challenge, which will certainly be my very last on a motorcycle.

“I’m a biker at heart, and you always come back to your first love even though I know that once I’m there, I’ll be wondering what I’m doing here.”

If he was younger, he’d certainly want to go for the win. Since he isn’t, his main goal is just to “complete as many stages as possible and go as far as I can.”

While a Kove 450 is much different from the Suzukis he raced back in the day, Joineau still plans to pay tribute to those past Dakars. He intends to bring his Suzuki tent to sleep in the bivouac, while childhood friend Pascal Golmard will accompany him in a bus wrapped in decals containing competitors from the Paris–Dakar era.

The bus will serve as his service truck and a central meeting spot for his team and media. Its livery will be designed by Alain Mirgalet.

While the AER follows the former Dakar route, Joineau is frank about how rally raids of today are so different compared to back then:

My perspective is quite different compared to the very first rally with Thierry Sabine, where it was all about adventure. Discovering new countries, the race, we had to invent everything, find ways to go as far as possible, not get a flat tire, not get lost, surviving, not running out of gas. Between technical inspections and arriving in Dakar, it lasted about a month with three weeks of racing. Our vehicles were less powerful even though we had much longer stages where we weren’t even sure if we’d have a meal when we arrived. Everyone was in the same boat and on the track.

Now, everything is well organized: breakfast, lunch, a shower if we want daily, toilets, massages, maximum refueling after 250 kilometers with a 15-minute break. Our friends and family know exactly where we are, down to the second, whereas back then they often only heard from us two days later. Everything’s changed. The world moves much too fast, the world wants everything right now.

If I’m coming back to the Africa Race, it’s to relive some distant memories and perhaps run into our friends, our brothers who have disappeared through some mirages that the desert knows so well how to make us rediscover. To tell you the truth, I’m coming to this race above all to have fun and not stress myself out, even though I know very well that I’m going to suffer like crazy. He who lives without madness is already dead.

Thierry made some crazy stages. He basically wanted nobody to reach Dakar. But everyone followed him, and every year we set off with him again. We departed Paris and crossed France to the cheers of the spectators; those are moments you never forget. We brought our friends with us, our families followed, and we took the ferry like warriors. In Dakar, we stayed three or four days to celebrate. The awards ceremony was the day after or two days after the finish. We had time to chat with all the competitors and have a great time.

Now, when you’ve barely arrived, the vehicles are all on board, the awards ceremony takes place immediately after the last special, and everyone is gone again the next day. On the other hand, Jean-Louis (Schlesser) and his team are trying their best to preserve this spirit. We live in a different era; you only have to look at the state of Africa.

Thank you to Jean-Louis Schlesser, and a special thought for René Metge and Hubert Auriol, who have kept this wonderful race going in Africa all the way to Dakar.

The 2026 Africa Eco Race will run from January 24 to February 7.

Featured image credit: via Marc Joineau