Segway is probably one of the last automotive brands you'd ever think to feature in the Dakar Rally. And rightly so, as it doesn't produce a single vehicle that's remotely capable of any serious off-road riding.
But that looks set to change.
The company announced that it's assembled a team to compete in the "Future Mission 1000" category of the 2025 Dakar Rally, a category dedicated to advancing the use of alternative power sources. And, although we know essentially nothing about the Segway Dakar Race Bike, apart from the fact it's electric, we have some info about the team and what they face.
The team consists of Benjamin Pascual, Xu Jianhao, and Yang Jie. It's unlikely you've heard any of these names before, but Pascal raced Loretta Lynn's 2024 450 B Limited class, and Jianhao finished 16th in the MXGP of China in 2019. So, not exactly a star-studded team but no slouches on two wheels, rest assured.
What awaits the team is 1000 kilometers (621 miles) of unforgiving desert terrain to test, not race, the Segway Dakar bike.
The "Future Mission 1000" category was introduced to the Dakar Rally in 2021 to advance the use of alternative power sources in the rally but was never meant to be a competitive race class, although there are points on offer. This class allows manufacturers to test new technology along the same route that other Dakar Rally racers will compete on. Bare in mind that the entire route for the competitors is 7,700 kilometers (4,784 miles) long.
Segway's motorcycles won't be competing in a race, per se, the category features multiple evaluation criteria that were defined to test the vehicles and keep riders and drivers alert. This category is a proving ground more than anything else.
So, yes, Segway has assembled a team and fleet of bikes not to race in the 2025 Dakar Rally, but how long before these first steps lead to Segway motorcycles lining up against factory Hondas and KTMs to tackle the full length of the world's most grueling rally raid? If KTM still has a factory team, that is.
