With both events no longer clashing, Pascal Delacour was one of a small contingent that planned to run both the Dakar Rally and Africa Eco Race. Unfortunately, his hopes of fully completing the double were ruined by a crash at Dakar.

He was doing Dakar as the navigator for Jean-Luc Ceccaldi, their first time working together after Delacour finished 36th in Ultimate at the 2025 Dakar with Jérôme Cambier. While sitting 47th overall after three days, they rolled their MD Optimus in Stage 4 when they tried to pass another car.

The Coronel brothers came by and helped pull them back onto their wheels, but the damage was terminal.

“We’re okay, but that’s the harsh reality of motorsport,” said Delacour. “I want to thank Jean-Luc and all the staff for the new friendships I made within this professional and dedicated team.

“Now, we have to bounce back. In 15 days, I’ll be competing in the Africa Eco Race. One setback doesn’t define the whole journey! Returning to France this weekend! Optimus forever!”

For the AER, Delacour will continue in an Optimus as the navigator for David Gérard. They finished runner-up in T1.2 and third overall at the Morocco Desert Challenge last April. Delacour last appeared at the AER in 2022, where he and Gérard placed third in T1.

The Dakar–AER double became possible when the latter was moved from directly clashing with Dakar to starting a week after it finishes. While just seven days of turnaround is still cutting it close, Delacour obviously has an extra week due to his DNF.

Others running both races include fellow navigators Jérémy Athimon, Maurizio Gerini, Loïc Minaudier, Anthony Pes, Jan Rosa i Viñas, and Marek Sýkora; as well as truck driver Tomáš Tomeček.

Featured image credit: Charly López / ASO