- Genesis model ambassador Jacky Ickx, 80, drove a part of the 2025 Dakar Rally in a GV80
- Ickx drove a bespoke GV80 often known as the Desert Version
- The GV80 Desert Version incorporates a stance 40 millimeters wider than inventory
Belgian racing legend Jacky Ickx took half this month within the 2025 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia behind the wheel of a one-off Genesis GV80 SUV referred to as the Desert Version.
The winner of a number of Method 1 races in addition to the 24 Hours of Le Mans is a Genesis model ambassador and carefully concerned within the improvement of the automaker’s LMDh endurance race automobile, and the return to Dakar marks one other milestone in his collaboration with the model.
Ickx, who not too long ago celebrated his eightieth birthday, has a storied historical past with the Dakar Rally, having claimed victory in 1983. This 12 months, he tackled the grueling occasion alongside his daughter Vanina, masking roughly 3,700 miles of the rally’s 5,000-mile route throughout the Saudi Arabian desert. The daddy-daughter duo rekindled reminiscences of their 2000 Paris-Dakar-Cairo Rally journey.
The rally icon took supply of the bespoke GV80 Desert Version on Dec. 31 on the Genesis showroom in Riyadh. Developed in partnership with Dubai-based W Motors, the car boasts a wider stance—up 40 millimeters entrance and rear in comparison with inventory—in addition to 20-inch cast bead-lock wheels shod with all-terrain tires.
Jacky Ickx and the Genesis GV80 Desert Version on the 2025 Dakar Rally
The suspension was additionally modified to deal with the tough desert situations, together with offering extra floor clearance and journey, improved damping, and enhanced stability on gentle sand dunes. A brand new drive mode designed particularly for desert situations was additionally added to the car.
In response to Genesis, Ickx was impressed with the suspension system and the extra visibility offered by a customized lighting system featured on the car. The lighting system contains LED auxiliary lights built-in into the entrance fascia, A-pillars, and roof. A customized roof rack is provided with mounts for gas canisters, sandboards, and a rooftop tent.
Genesis has but to announce manufacturing plans for the GV80 Desert Version, however as a one-off mannequin, its capabilities have been absolutely showcased on this 12 months’s Dakar Rally, which concluded on Jan. 17 with a victory by Yazeed Al Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk driving a Toyota GR Hilux Evo.