Ford's new American star Mitch Guthrie: The future of Dakar?

“The car is so good, but so physical too,” the American tells Motor Sport in the Dakar bivouac. “The driver is the limit of what it can do.”

In 2025, not many expectations were placed by Ford on Guthrie, but he surpassed most if not all of them by finishing fifth first time out at Dakar.

“I just wanted, especially for myself and the team, a good finish in the first year,” he said prior to the 2026 running.

“So we achieved that with the fifth place. I would say now I’m at the point where I want to win. I wouldn’t be here if that wasn’t the goal. I think we can compete.”

With Ford going for a four-pronged Dakar attack of Guthrie plus Sainz, Roma and Mattias Ekstrom, the young American was tasked with carrying spare parts for his illustrious team-mates in case they got into trouble.

However, this year Guthrie set a searing pace from the off, both winning Stage 3 and leading the event overall by that point. Having reached the pinnacle of his career so far, he described it as “the best day ever”.

Such was his speed, privateer Roman Dumas was instead given the extra bits to help Guthrie carry on the fight at the front.

The American has found the going tougher since then, but what’s clear is he has the ability and speed to fight it out with the best of them at Dakar.

Ford aims to spread the word of the event in the US, and wants Guthrie’s success to help it do that.

“I would say that, in the United States, Dakar is getting bigger and bigger,” he said.

“It’s so different from what we’re used to, so everyone has had to learn how the stages work, what a liaison is, all these little in and outs. The racing in the States is maybe a little more straightforward and only one day – and we’re racing 14 days at Dakar.

“So I think as people have been learning, and we’re now racing with Ford – an American brand, and [co-drover] Kellon [Walch] and I being Americans, all we want now is to go and win for the United States. That would be a really big statement.”

If Guthrie really wants to become the first American overall car category winner at Dakar, he’s got strong competition in the form of another Californian: 23-year-old Seth Quintero.

Also a member of the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA, the lightning-fast man from San Marcos took a second place Dakar finish in the lightweight class, and this season has two stage wins this year to Guthrie’s one, driving for Toyota.

The old guard of Sainz, Roma, Al-Attiyah and Loeb won’t be around for ever. With Guthrie and Quintero the new heroes, the future of Dakar could very much be of a Stars & Stripes theme.