Xavier de Soultrait is not the type to give up. Passion pegged to body and heart. And regardless of the pitfalls, the often frantic quest for partners and bad falls, the Bourbonnais always gets up. De Soultrait will take the start of the 44th edition of the Dakar, from January 1 to 14 in Saudi Arabia.
His ninth in a personal capacity, with the same team and the same bike as last year. Him, the former official Yamaha rider who was in the private structure of Husqvarna Racing. With happiness. In the previous edition, the Moulinois fought for the final victory before falling heavily during the 8th stage in the Saudi dunes. Result: cervical fracture and painful abandonment. Not enough to curb the ardor of Xavier de Soultrait. Confidences.
Try to be consistent and regularly placed in the top 10
Xavier, in what state of mind are you approaching your ninth Dakar?
Yes a 9th, that’s a lot, I have a lot of experience, I know the race well. It was all the tricks to try to be well positioned. But I also know that injuries happen quickly. Last year I had a big one. So I’m going to try to do with all that to try to be consistent and regularly placed in the top 10 to hope to be as far ahead as possible.
What is the right recipe? Be regular with a little more caution to go to the end?
Last year I was consistent between sixth and ninth every day and after five days I was leading the rally so I want to do the same again. On the other hand, I gave up after eight days on a fall, so do the same thing on a regular basis, but maybe a little further back to be on the safe side. And why not go all the way, on the podium or in the five or ten, in any case, to be in the best position possible.
– JULIEN DELFOSSE / DPPI / DPPI VIA AFP
Viltaïs, it’s my family, my club
Are you leaving with the same team, the same motorcycle?
The same team, the same bike, the same partners. With Dafy, we started a really nice story last year, I have some new partners like Ipone and it works well. It’s a team that offers me an assistance service during the race, but otherwise, my team all year round, it’s an integration association called Viltaïs (based in Moulins) and who takes care of all that is social, integration, insertion of migratory waves, etc. So Viltaïs is my family and my club, but my colors during the race are Husqvarna Racing.
How do you judge the layout this year?
A priori very sandy, maybe a little slower, which suits me well. Now you never know exactly what you’ll find. They (the organizers) have a feeling and a feeling by redoing the course which is not always the same as we feel on the track.
It will certainly be my last Dakar on a high level motorcycle.
Xavier, what is it that keeps pushing you to relaunch yourself in the Dakar?
In any case, it’s not the financial gain, it’s not my family that pushes me, there is none of this that encourages me because everyone knows the risks and would like it to happen. ended. Financially, I am a private pilot, so it is not profitable and not easy. It really is passion. I have the chance to do this and the dream of doing this. But we have motorcycles that go at 180 km / h, we go in incredible settings. We’re almost a bunch of friends now; the band of the 10-15 front pilots. So these are meetings, discoveries, and then the passion to do the Dakar, what.
You are still riding a motorcycle this year. Did you have the opportunity to become a car co-pilot, did it tickle you?
Not especially, to tell the truth, I had a possibility and a proposal to go with Sébastien Loeb precisely, so we pushed a little and in the end, it did not succeed. But it is life opportunities that are created following participation in motorcycles. Now, the Dakar is really my passion, it was originally motorcycles, it becomes the Dakar. I think I’ll be there one way or another next year, but it will definitely be my last high-level motorcycle.