MMP Compétition‘s Yasir Seaidan will continue working with the Metge family in 2024, albeit a slightly different one. After Adrien Metge served as his co-driver for the Dakar Rally, older brother Michaël Metge will take over for the rest of the World Rally-Raid Championship starting with the upcoming Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.
The Metge brothers finished next to each other at Dakar. Michaël and his driver Jérôme de Sadeleer, an MMP team-mate, narrowly missed out on the SSV category victory when they finished second overall and just two-and-a-half minutes behind Xavier de Soultrait, while Seaidan and Adrien were third.
Seaidan won Stage #3 to take the SSV overall lead before losing the spot to Soultrait. A poor Stage #8 dropped Seaidan over an hour behind Soultrait and Sadeleer. Since Soultrait and Sadeleer are not racing for the W2RC, Seaidan exited Dakar as the SSV points leader with seventeen- and eighteen-point advantages over fellow Can-Am drivers Sara Price (finished fourth) and João Ferreira (fifth).
Both Metge brothers switched to co-driving after racing the Dakar on a bike, with Michaël doing seven on two wheels before entering the co-driver’s seat in 2022.
2024 is Seaidan’s first time competing in the full World Rally-Raid Championship after exclusively racing the Dakar in 2022 and 2023 with Alexey Kuzmich as navigator. He finished fourth in the 2023 FIA Middle East Baja Cup standings after winning his only start of the season at his home country’s Saudi Baja.
The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge begins 25 February.
