“We're really proud and excited to be here”
CREW FACTS
R.v.d.B.
- Rik van den Brink is preparing for his first Dakar alongside fellow debutant Gydo Heimans in the highly competitive Ultimate category. They will be the only 100% rookie crew in the top car class at Dakar 2025.
- The 55-year-old has long been a fan of motorsport, but only started competing on a quad in 2018. He did Breslau 500 in Poland, and it sparked a passion that led to him creating his own team, Brinky Rallysport. He and Gydo did their first rally together in 2020, finishing second in a borrowed car at the Balkan Breslau, then in 2021 they won the 'Mega Edition' of Rallye Breslau, topping a field of 70 cars.
- The Dutch duo have previously raced in a Toyota, a Borgward BX7 and a Mitsubishi ASX, but for Dakar 2025 they will be driving a new Century Racing CR7 with support from the Century/SRT team. That means they will be sharing the paddock with hugely experienced Dakar competitors like Mathieu Serradori and Laia Sanz.
- Rik has no family ties to Martin and Mitchel van den Brink, who compete in the trucks - "but they're very nice people, and big respect for what they're doing!"
G.H.
- Gydo Heimans began his motorsport career at 16 in a small private team called Racemij, and later joined 4x4 Centrum Ermelo.
- The 34-year-old started out as a mechanic, but after a few years he was asked to replace the team's navigator, so he also learned how to become a co-driver - "by trial and error".
- After their breakout victory at Rallye Breslau 2021, Gydo guided Rik to a podium finish at the same event in 2022. They also topped the Diesel class at the Morocco Desert Challenge 2023, before taking part in the Portugal and Morocco rounds of the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) in 2024.
2025 AMBITIONS
R.v.d.B.: “I've always loved motorsport, but I only started competing in 2018 because I finally had the time and the money to do it. Coming to our first Dakar is a dream come true. It's taken us a few years to get to this point, but we're really proud and excited to be here. The only goal is to finish, and it would be great to do so in daylight! Gydo and I have fun in the car, but we still have a kind of ambition. There are no arguments, we just share feedback to improve things and make fewer mistakes. The CR7 is a great car. We're lucky to be working so closely with SRT and the Century factory team. It's a great organisation with a very friendly family atmosphere and yet a high level of professionalism.”
G.H.: “I have over 15 years of experience, mostly in the amateur field. I learned to navigate by trial and error, so I've been through some of the worst situations, like when you're completely lost in the wilderness! I started working with Rik in 2019, I think, and over the last five years we really built up to the big one. The Dakar is certainly alive and well in the Netherlands, let's put it that way! Going this year is like a childhood dream come true. We'll be driving the new 4x4 Century CR7. Our car was delivered in April or May, and we did a few rallies in South Africa. The level was pretty high, with guys like Henk Lategan and Giniel de Villiers. It was a good opportunity for us to get to know the car with support from Century. We did three or four rallies in the local championship then went to the Rallye du Maroc. Unfortunately we had a crash on day one so we were out of the game, but we still did some useful testing. Well, you're never fully ready for Dakar, but we've done as much as we can to prepare. We don't have any particular ambitions. Getting the finisher's medal is our biggest objective.”
