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Yes, Sarge, a puma is a real animal. It’s a big cat, like a lion.
A red puma will grace the side of Juan Cruz Yacopini‘s Toyota Hilux at the 2025 Dakar Rally after acquiring backing from Puma Energy Rally Team. He announced his move on Wednesday.
“I am very happy to join this great team,” said Yacopini. “For me, it’s a dream come true to be part of such an important and prestigious structure. This will be my fifth Dakar, and I feel like I have the tools and experience to make it a great race. I am immensely grateful to Puma Energy for trusting me to represent their brand.
“This news is a huge motivation to keep working at 100% and give everything I have to make it a great Dakar and an excellent 2025 season. I will continue working hard with my team to achieve the results we are aiming for.
“With the support of Puma Energy, I’m sure we will achieve great things together. I hope more brands join us in continuing along this exciting Dakar journey, which has brought us so much joy over the years.”
Competing for Overdrive Racing, Yacopini finished a career-best third in the 2023 World Rally-Raid Championship. His performance dipped the following year, bottoming out when he was disqualified from the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge as he finished sixteenth in points; his best run was an eighth at the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid and last week’s Rallye du Maroc.
While he will continue to race a Hilux Overdrive, he hopes signing up for 2025 with Puma can help get him back to form. Daniel Oliveras will continue as his navigator.
Puma Energy is a Swiss multinational oil company with a major South American presence. They sponsored the Can-Am Maverick X3 of Óscar Santos Peralta for his Dakar début in January; a two-time Paraguayan national champion, he finished eleventh in the Challenger class. At the previous year’s Dakar, Puma backed the cars of Andrea Lafarjá and Juan Manuel “Pato” Silva along with bike racer Francisco Arredondo.
The 2025 Dakar Rally will take place on 3–17 January. Yacopini’s best finish is a seventh in 2023, while he was eighteenth in 2024.
