It is in 2022 that Jean-Loup Lepan will participate, in the motorcycle category, in his first Dakar. And it’s not a year like any other. “We will be 20 years after my father’s first Dakar”, explains the 22-year-old. The father is Frédéric Lepan, a motocross rider well known to amateurs in the surroundings of Embreville, a town in the north-east of the Somme. A father who has 8 participations in the legendary rally, the first in 2002 while the race was still being contested in Africa, the last in 2010, in Argentina.
Since the Dakar, depending on geopolitical and economic considerations, arrived in 2020 in the kingdom of the Middle East. But younger, Frédéric Lepan was not very excited by the prospect of seeing his son follow in his footsteps. “I wanted to have a motorbike but he didn’t want to start”, says Jean-Loup. But at the age of 11, Frédéric gave his first motorcycle to his son and challenged him to participate in a race. “He said to me” as you are going to be a little afraid you are going to bother me more with the bike. “And then first race, second race …” Things are going well, to such an extent that Jean-Loup has a series of races and competitions. Picardy Championship, French Championship, European Championship. He lurks his ambitions in muddy terrain.
Advice from father to son
The Dakar, at the start very little for him. And then it’s watching his father roll on the sand that he changes his mind and matures his project for two years. “I said to myself why not, the adventure side is really nice. And besides being able to experience it together!”. Because Frédéric Lepan, if he no longer drives due to repeated injuries, will accompany his son to Saudi Arabia, which they will join on Monday. This time he will have the role of assistant. “The most important thing in the Dakar is not to waste time, but not only on the bike, also in the morning so as not to put yourself in stress. And after the stages it’s between 600 and 800 kilometers every days, so fatigue begins to rise “, details Frédéric.
For his first participation, Jean-Loup Lepan just wants to “have fun”. He’ll be aiming for the heights of the standings in a few years, perhaps secretly hoping to overtake the best performance of his father, a twentieth place in 2005.