Who doesn’t love rally raid trucks? Although they no longer have a World Rally-Raid Championship trophy to race for, those giant monsters that race the Dakar Rally are a beloved category among fans. This perception was further solidified when the MAN TGA 26.480 6×6 of Jordi Juvanteny and KH-7 Ecovergy Team won the first of two Fan Boost votes, which earned them five bonus points towards the Mission 1000 ranking.
Mission 1000 is a separate category from the main Dakar Rally that follows its route but takes place on a separate course, reserved for ten vehicles powered by electric, hydrogen, or hybrid energy. Besides finishing stages, teams can notch five more points if they win the Fan Boost, a fan vote that takes place on the Dakar Rally’s official Instagram profile.
KH-7’s MAN, which runs on a mix of hydrogen and hydrotreated vegetable oil, dominated the first poll that took place after the race’s halfway point on Friday. They recorded over 2,600 votes, more than twice that of runner-up Tacita Formula Corsa‘s electric Tacita Discanto motorcycle. All five other teams failed to break quadruple digits.
The truck, the only such vehicle in Mission 1000, has also been impressive on track as well. Prior to the vote, it was already leading the overall with 60 points, earning ten points for finishing each of the first six stages. They added another ten points in Stage #3 when they set a time faster than the benchmark time; if a team beats the reference, their time is classified as Sport Mode for ten points, while being within range is Normal Mode for five points and slower is Eco Mode with zero bonuses.
Les Tigres du Désert‘s hydrogen Can-Am Maverick is second overall with 58 points. The Maverick and KH-7’s MAN were the only vehicles to complete the full distance in Stage #6, though the electric bike of Green Power Race salvaged ten points by winning the launch control contest that day, which consists of a 100-metre drag race.
The KH-7 truck previously ran the Dakar Rally proper but was relegated to a separate category in 2023 from the main Truck class due to being a hydrogen vehicle. To avoid a repeat, organisers created Mission 1000 for 2024.
Fan Boost #1 results
| Rank | Team | Vehicle | Votes |
| 1 | KH-7 Ecovergy Team | MAN TGA 26.480 | 2,635 |
| 2 | Tacita Formula Corsa | Tacita Discanto | 1,266 |
| 3 | Les Tigres du Désert | Can-Am Maverick X3 X RC Hydrogen | 862 |
| 4 | Green Power Race | BAT Power Racing | 660 |
| 5 | HySE | HySE-X1 | 528 |
| 6 | Arctic Leopard | Arctic Leopard E-XE 880 | 468 |
| 7 | Rainbow Truck Team | E•Lions Volkswagen Amarok H2 | 464 |
