Segway headlines Dakar Future Mission 1000 class
Words and images courtesy Dakar Rally
For the first time, Segway is forming a factory team to conquer 2025 Dakar!
Future Mission 1000, with the self-developed and innovative Segway Dakar Race Bike, bringing cutting-edge electric tech to the legendary Dakar Rally.
In the 2024 Dakar its bivouac and desert realm were opened to vehicles running on cutting-edge tech.
Providing a test bed in actual rally-raid conditions and a context, favourable to performance.
The aim being to support the endeavours of manufacturers and/or projects striving to reimagine mobility.
In the 2025 Dakar, 5 vehicles will be put to the test in Act II of this challenge.
Which ranks entrants according to their performances, reliability and fuel economy.
Future Mission 1000 was created to assess the capabilities of cutting-edge technology on the challenging terrain of Dakar.
Over a distance of 1000 kilometers, manufacturers can determine which technologies are worth further development in the future.
Although this challenge is not meant to be a competition, there are multiple evaluation criteria in place.
To thoroughly test the vehicle and keep riders and drivers on their toes.
It serves as a testing ground for various engine types, including pure electric, hydrogen fuel and hybrid technologies.
By choosing to showcase their strengths on this stage, Segway not only displays confidence in their own technology.
Also in the future advancements of electric motorcycles.
The Dakar Future programme was introduced during the 2021 edition.
To advance the use of alternative power sources in the rally.
The incentives rolled out year after year have delivered tangible results and proved the value of a gradual approach, especially for biofuels.
Car firm Dacia has burst onto the rally-raid scene with it’s Sandrider model running on 100% synthetic fuel.
Showing just how eager stakeholders are to continue pushing the envelope.
Ford M-Sport is also revving up for the Dakar with biofuels, as are some of Mini X-raid’s and Toyota Gazoo Racing entrants.
Looking at the big picture, most of the elite vehicles in the Ultimate class have made the switch to fuels that slash carbon emissions by nearly 70%.
With the vast majority of the remaining teams intending to follow suit in the coming years.
In a similar vein, the Dakar launched Mission 1000 to put cutting-edge technologies through their paces… in the extreme conditions of the desert.
Daring projects are lining up to partake in this XXL test bed.
It yielded a treasure trove of data for the trailblazers who took up the challenge
in 2024, who went back to their garages to make their machines more reliable and robust.
The first experiments, carried out in January 2024, yielded a treasure trove of data.
Which encouraged some of the minds working at the frontier of tech to double down on their research. While others received a morale boost.
Meanwhile, future candidates have been fine-tuning their vehicles behind the scenes.
The second edition of the Mission 1000 challenge will pit five vehicles equipped with three technologies against the tough Dakar terrains.
This will push them to their limits and beyond, as any good laboratory is supposed to do!
Segway segues from capital cities to Saudi tracks
Segway will be participating in the 2025 Dakar Rally with their newly formed team.
The Chinese manufacturer’s fully electric personal transporters, scooters and motor scooters are a regular sight in big cities.
As it’s next challenge, it set out to tame the sands of the Dakar! Assembling a team of 50 people to design the X1000.
Three units of its electric motorbike, which can hit 140km/h, will be entrusted to expert off-road racers.
This is a significant moment for the company, as they unveil their electric vehicle.
The Segway Dakar Race Bike, in the highly regarded ‘Future Mission 1000’ category.
The Dakar Rally is renowned for its extreme conditions and is considered one of the most challenging events in rally racing!
For many, Segway is a symbol of innovation and a love for exhilarating sports, as evidenced by their electric Dakar racing factory team.
The team, made up of three professional riders;
- Benjamin Pascual
- Xu Jianhao
- Yang Jie
Each bring their own unique strengths and perspectives to the table.
The young Argentinian Benjamín Pascual, 19, will get a few pointers from his father Pablo.
The sporting manager of the group, who has entered the Dakar nine times.
The other two members of the Segway triumvirate are the Chinese rider;
- Jianhao Xu – who has won every single national moto-cross championship since 2010.
- His brother in arms Jie Yang, also a key player on the Far Eastern scene.
Other Future Mission 1000 entries
In one of the most ambitious crossovers in the history of motor sports, five Japanese manufacturers determined to crack the code for the large-scale commercialisation of hydrogen-powered engines decided to pool and share their expertise.
The HySe project brought Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Toyota engineers together under one roof to develop the engine for its buggy and commissioned the Overdrive Racing team manager, Jean-Marc Fortin, to build the chassis.
The original version already turned heads in 2024, but the X2 model has an increased fuel capacity of 7.5 kg of hydrogen, giving it a range of up to 150 kilometres in the most gruelling conditions and allowing its driver to surf the dunes confidently.
Yoshio Ikemachi will be entering his ninth Dakar, his first in an electric car.
The only truck on the start list of Mission 1000 in 2024 and 2025 produced an impeccable performance to win the challenge last season.
The 12-tonne MAN truck is equipped with tech developed by the mechanics and engineers at Evarm, a company that specialises in converting petrol- or diesel-powered vehicles to run on natural gas or hydrogen.
Building on their experience from last January, the racers Jordi Juvanteny and José Luís Criado (with a combined 65 Dakar starts) and the engineer Xavi Ribas are determined to smash through the 1,000 hp barrier.
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