FORD

 MG 

• Mitchell 'Mitch' Guthrie Jr is gearing up for his sixth Dakar in 2026, and his second in the Ultimate class. Part of the Ford Racing armada alongside Carlos Sainz, Nani Roma and Mattias Ekström, the 29-year-old American had a seriously impressive debut in the top cars class last year, finishing fifth overall.   
• In 2025, Mitch and co-driver Kellon Walch took solid results at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge (5th) and the Rallye du Maroc (7th) in the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC). They also conquered Vegas to Reno in their factory Polaris RZR.
• Motorsport is in the blood for Mitch; his father Mitch Guthrie Senior is a legendary UTV racer with six wins at the King of the Hammers. Mitch began competing at age 11 in the CORR Series, working his way up through the American offroad scene at the Lucas Oil Off Road, WORCS and Best In The Desert Series. In 2018 and 2019 he also won King of the Hammers, becoming the first back-to-back champion since his father. He then topped the Best In The Desert Pro class championship in 2019, which earned him a spot on the Red Bull Off-Road Junior team for Dakar 2020. 
• Mitch served notice of his potential with three stage wins on his Dakar debut with Ola Floene, although they suffered engine failure on Stage 7.   
• Mitch has been competing alongside Kellon since Dakar 2023, and they came agonisingly close to overall victory in the Challengers in 2024. Leading by 25 minutes at the start of the final day, they saw the title slip through their grasp due to mechanical issues and finished second behind Cristina Gutiérrez.
• Mitch also runs a shop close to where he grew up for the Polaris he races at home.