A wonderful finish to Dakar 2025!

A successful challenge, Dakar 2025.
Dakar 2025 was everything was probably one of the hardest challenges Elka and it’s long-time rider Hunter Miller have ever faced. 7700 kilometers of Dunes, Rocks and heat in the most unforgiving terrain you can imagine. Despite all that, we still pulled it off.
Racing is in Elka’s DNA, from our testing to our product development, that’s what we’ve always been about. These past two weeks allowed us to prove once more that we’re not the average Suspension company, we’re Elka. Not only have we always been supportive of our athletes and clients, but we also learn from every single experience we find ourselves into to deliver the best of the best in terms of suspension.
With that being said, we’re proud to announce that Dakar 2025 was yet another successful challenge that allows us to push the boundaries of Shocks as we know them even further! With the help of our Director of Racing & Aftermarket Products, as well as the talent of George White from Double-E-Racing, Hunter Miller and his Co-Driver and Andrew Short managed to push their Elka-Equipped Maverick R to a top ten finish in Hunter’s first ever Dakar.
Dakar has been an incredible experience for all of us, and we’ll be back to bring home the gold.
A top ten finish for the Dakar ‘Rookie’
Although we all know how talented Hunter Miller is, competing in his first-ever Dakar was no small feat. That didn’t hold him back, though—he finished an impressive 10th overall in one of the most challenging and competitive rallies in the world!
Despite facing punctures, mechanical setbacks, and crashes, Hunter pushed his Elka-equipped Maverick R to the absolute limit, securing an incredible Top 10 finish in the world’s toughest race.
We’re beyond proud to have Hunter as part of the Elka family—not only as an athlete but as a key partner in developing and testing our shocks. Here’s to many more years of collaboration with one of the greatest off-road racers of all time.

Great performance from our Shocks!
Hunter Miller’s first Dakar was incredible—but so was the performance of our shocks. Thanks to excellent maintenance and expert tuning by Yan Pitre and George White from Double-E Racing, the shocks not only survived the grueling 7,700 kilometers but performed flawlessly to the very end.
As we prepare for King of the Hammers 2025, we want to thank everyone who made this possible: South Racing, Can-Am Off-Road, the Dakar crew, Hunter Miller, and Double-E Racing. Together, we’ve pushed the boundaries of suspension technology once again.
We’ll be back!

What is the Dakar?
What to expect in the world’s hardest race, the Dakar?
-
2 weeks of the most intense racing across Saudi Arabia’s desert.
-
7700 kms of desert, dunes and spectacular landscapes.
-
12 Different stages and a prologue, all more exciting than the other from Bisha to Shubaytah.
-
A 2-day marathon stage of more than 1000 kms where competitors find themselves isolated from the rest of their team.
-
A 48 hours chrono of over 1000 kms right at the start of the rally, starting on January 5th and ending the next day.
-
A final day presenting a Mass start for an even more special desert spectacle.
-
Countless jumps, intense speeds, the hardest mechanical challenges ever across the unforgiving no man’s land of the desert.
Needless to say, nothing about the Dakar will be easy. The two weeks will be some of the hardest for the competitors, the machines, the teams and every mechanical component will be pushed to their limits. But it is also the perfect opportunity for everyone involved, including Hunter Miller and Elka suspension, to show the world what we’re made of once again.
Make sure to tune in on the race, starting on January 3rd. Streaming will be available directly on Redbull TV, but also across numerous streaming platforms.


