“It’s getting bigger and bigger, faster and faster”
معلومات عن الطاقم
L.P.
- Normally, Lex Peters dedicates himself to getting cars fresh and shiny as the owner of ANAC Carwash. But he also loves to get them dirty, with a varied background in motorsports and a recent go at the Dakar.
- He learned to drive when he was six years old and enjoyed fun moments with his brother. Younger, he didn’t have the money to race. As professional success came, he was able to start with indoor karting and then rallycross.
- After gaining experience in the Moroccan desert, Lex arrived at the Dakar in January 2024. But his first participation came to a brutal end ten days into the edition, with a spectacular crash that saw his car roll over a few times. He immediately knew he had to return, and that’s what he did in 2025.
- The Dutch entrepreneur fought back a year ago, and what a revenge it was: best Arcane driver, he brought his Challenger to9thplace in the category. The result of a strategy based on caution, smart decisions, and consistency, adopted together with his new navigator, Mark Salomons. Let’s see what 2026 will bring for the duo, who will discover their new toy -the G-Ecko of the G Rally Team- during the shakedown in Yanbu.
M.S.
- Mark Salomons’ daily life involves screens, loads of coffee, and the occasional jokes, in the field of information and communication technology. But motorsports are a consuming passion, especially with the Dakar on the horizon!
- Coming from the world of street racing, he first participated in the Dakar in 2023, learning the ropes of the world’s most iconic rally-raid as a co-driver aboard a DAF truck that took him all the way to the finishers’ podium (11th). This first experience strengthened his stature within the Dutch rally-raid community.
- Beyond his skills as a navigator, the youngster is also used to making roadbooks for rally events. He demonstrated his abilities by guiding Lex Peters to 9th place in the Challenger category in 2025. The rest of the year was successful as well, highlighted by a victory at the Hungarian Baja alongside Paul Spierings.
- Back with Lex for the Dakar 2026, Mark wants to keep the same approach — staying calm, focused, and measured in the driving, controlling short-term eagerness in order to achieve a strong long-term result. A strategy full of maturity for the 32-year-old competitor, who has already collected two finisher’s medals. Never two without three?
طموح
L.P.
“For sure, the 2025 race was super good for us. I did some rallies since, and I feel more confident. The last time, my goal was to have a finisher’s medal; now, it’s to have the medal, but to go flat out and see how far we can go! It was good to complete the race, but it’s a competition. Life is a big adventure, and I want to challenge myself. The G Rally Team is very professional: how they approach things, how they manufactured the car, how they do the services... There is Puck Klaassen in the team, she’s fast and she might be able to win, so it’s a good competition in the team as well. There is also Kees Koolen; he did hundreds of rallies, so he really knows what the dangers are. You have to be ‘desert smart’. I’m really looking forward to race with them. Mark is a very good navigator. Sometimes he pushes me, sometimes he slows me down. He’s hard on the job and soft as a person. When he tells me something, I never feel it as personal; it’s all about the job we’re doing.”
“For sure, the 2025 race was super good for us. I did some rallies since, and I feel more confident. The last time, my goal was to have a finisher’s medal; now, it’s to have the medal, but to go flat out and see how far we can go! It was good to complete the race, but it’s a competition. Life is a big adventure, and I want to challenge myself. The G Rally Team is very professional: how they approach things, how they manufactured the car, how they do the services... There is Puck Klaassen in the team, she’s fast and she might be able to win, so it’s a good competition in the team as well. There is also Kees Koolen; he did hundreds of rallies, so he really knows what the dangers are. You have to be ‘desert smart’. I’m really looking forward to race with them. Mark is a very good navigator. Sometimes he pushes me, sometimes he slows me down. He’s hard on the job and soft as a person. When he tells me something, I never feel it as personal; it’s all about the job we’re doing.”
M.S.
“What an amazing journey in 2025, our first Dakar together with Lex -we would not have imagined being P9! Now we starts a completely new chapter with the G Rally Team. We had a warm welcome, and it’s going to be interesting. We had a really good one last year, but that’s mainly because we believed in the concept of being steady and not pushing too hard -don’t follow the others, just keep the same pace. The goal is always to finish, to get my third finisher’s medal. We would love to achieve the same position as last year, but it’s going to be difficult. The Challenger category is very interesting because it’s getting bigger and bigger, and racing faster and faster. You have to give everything if you want to compete at the top! No result will be disappointing because to finish the Dakar is always the ultimate goal. Lex started off-road rally just a couple of years ago, and he grows at every rally, but also in the rally. You can see his pace increasing, his driving getting cleaner, and he listens really well -perfect from a navigator point of view. You have to keep in mind that it’s a 14-day race, not a one-day or even a five-kilometer race. When a driver has a car in front, he’s always eager to pass it or be faster, it’s subconscious. But even in those moments, you need to stay calm.”
“What an amazing journey in 2025, our first Dakar together with Lex -we would not have imagined being P9! Now we starts a completely new chapter with the G Rally Team. We had a warm welcome, and it’s going to be interesting. We had a really good one last year, but that’s mainly because we believed in the concept of being steady and not pushing too hard -don’t follow the others, just keep the same pace. The goal is always to finish, to get my third finisher’s medal. We would love to achieve the same position as last year, but it’s going to be difficult. The Challenger category is very interesting because it’s getting bigger and bigger, and racing faster and faster. You have to give everything if you want to compete at the top! No result will be disappointing because to finish the Dakar is always the ultimate goal. Lex started off-road rally just a couple of years ago, and he grows at every rally, but also in the rally. You can see his pace increasing, his driving getting cleaner, and he listens really well -perfect from a navigator point of view. You have to keep in mind that it’s a 14-day race, not a one-day or even a five-kilometer race. When a driver has a car in front, he’s always eager to pass it or be faster, it’s subconscious. But even in those moments, you need to stay calm.”
