Full throttle: Currie and Monster Energy Can-Am all in on Dakar 2019

Ten stages, 100% Peru, zero margin for error. Winding through a little over 3100 miles of relentless rock, sand, and dirt; this year’s Rally Dakar route stretches down a vast trail of Peru’s unforgiving coastline. For Lima to Tacna, and back again. Promising a truly spectacular test of man and machine against the elements.

For even the most seasoned rally racer, taking on this behemoth of a competition is a hugely daunting task. 23-time race veteran, Monster Energy athlete - and winner of the Dakar on two- and four-wheels - Nani Roma, described competing in the Dakar as the "ultimate motorsport challenge which is a test that changes like waves on the ocean."

This is a fact 35-year-old California-based racer and team owner Casey Currie is all too aware of.

As you are reading this, Casey is currently knee and wheel deep in the Peruvian sand, racing in the side-by-side category with the Monster Energy Can-Am Team. This not only marks his debut in the legendary off-road race but also puts him as only the eighth driver from the USA to take on Dakar, since the event’s inception in 1979.

With a string of titles in both two and four wheels under his race-suit belt, Casey is certainly no stranger to intense competition. However making his debut in Dakar - and representing the USA in the process - is the culmination of a lifetime’s hard work.

“It’s every off-road racer’s dream to go to Dakar and win!” Explained Casey. “The risk for me is to let down America, and the reward? I just don’t know yet. It [Dakar] is the biggest off-road race in the world, and it is the cream of the crop of every bit of racing that my team and I will do.”

“My Grandpa was a racer, my Dad was a racer. I started racing dirt bikes at four years old - and was kinda just bred into it. I got into SuperMoto when I was 23 years old, and also started racing short course off-road at the same time. I won a championship doing that. And then got into Can-Am racing, King of the Hammers. I literally was racing anything I could, all year round."

Casey continues: “My seasons are in intense, but no matter what happens every January - I’m there watching Dakar on TV. In my mind, if you want to watch it then you want to race it. It’s the equivalent of driving ten Baja 500s in ten days. It’s crazy. All that together is like the most amount of stress you could put upon yourself in one go."

“I got the opportunity to race in the Inca Rally for South Racing, and it was incredible. They worked out a lot of bugs and got it all dialed in - and the team went on to win Dakar last year. Now that I’m racing the Dakar for real - after watching it for so long - I feel like I’m a 12-year-old kid getting to watch my first trophy truck race. This is the hardest, longest, biggest off-road racing in the world. Ten days of perfect driving is what it’s going to take. This is the pinnacle of off road racing.”

Casey lines up alongside teammates - veteran Brazilian racer Reinaldo Varela, and Spanish former World Enduro rider Gerard Farrés. Of course, we will be keeping you up to date with Casey’s progress on the 41st edition of the legendary event right here; click the links for updates on stage 1 and stage 2.

You can also stay up to date with the progress of the entire Monster Energy Can-Am Team - including a video diary series, here!