STÉPHANE PETERHANSEL

PALMARES

• 6-time Dakar Rally winner in motorbike
• 8 times Dakar Rally winner by car
• 2-time Enduro World Champion (motorbike)

Known as “Mr. Dakar”, Stéphane Peterhansel is the only person in the world to have won the African rallying competition 6 times as a motorcycle racer and 8 times as a race car driver.

The Dakar Rally is one of the most demanding races in the world: every year motorcycles, quads, race cars and trucks take on deserts with dunes, mountains and all kinds of uneven terrains, and compete against one another on ever-changing paths in a competition that requires them to push themselves beyond their limits.

With a total of 50 stage wins at the Dakar Rally, the last of which came and was celebrated in the 2024 edition that just ended, the best way to define Peterhansel is certainly the “legend” of Motor Sports.

Born in France, part of his success is due to his being naturally prone to discipline and resilience, to his innate ability to handle pressure and calmly take on challenges by learning from his mistakes, his concentration and drive to be the best, hunger for success and instinct for victory.

His exceptional driving skills and physical and mental endurance took care of the rest.

Stéphane thrives on his passions and, by his own admission, is completely devoted to them.

Failure is nearly impossible with such a combination of genetic gifts, learned skills and extraordinary passion.

Stéphane has chosen to ride on a THOK e-bike and has shared his story in an exclusive interview.

He spent a day at THOK’s headquarters in Alba together with his co-pilot Edouard Boulanger (who is also a member of the THOK “Performance First Team”, which we will talk about soon) to replace his TK01 R with a GRAM-RC.

We were struck by his “ordinary” and spontaneous nature and are proud to have him among the top athletes of our “THOK Performance First Team”.

The settings of Stéphane Peterhansel’s GRAM-RC:

• Motor: Shimano EP8 configured in two profiles, i.e. “Long Ride and “Fast Ride”.
  The Long Ride is set with the following assistance profiles: low ECO / TRAIL; medium BOOST. He uses this setting for an endurance training session, the Dakar keeps the pilots busy for many hours a day.
  He trains his eyesight and reaction time by doing DH. For this he uses the Fast Ride profile set with medium ECO / TRAIL and high BOOST, so as to go quickly through the toughest climbs that lead to the most technical downhill sections, which he repeats multiple times.
• Suspensions:
  • Fork 75 PSI/cartridge Grip 2
    Compression: LSC – 9 clicks from fully closed / HSC – 5 clicks from fully closed
    Rebound: LSR – 5 clicks from fully closed / HSR – 8 clicks from fully closed
  • Shocks 195 PSI
    Compression: LSC – 7 clicks from fully closed / HSC – 4 clicks from fully closed
    Rebound: LSR – 8 clicks from fully closed
• Tyre pressure: front 1.2 bar / rear 1.5 bar.
• He uses tubeless tyres and mounts a Vittoria Air-Liner at the rear.