“Pushing for a result without making too much noise”

The man behind the steering wheel lived his first Dakar rallies on a quad in South America. The lady behind the road-book in charge of navigation lived her first Dakar just a year ago In Saudi Arabia, on a bike. Both have high expectations in a Century Racing CR6 that has already proven how competitive it was on the world’s toughest rally. Despite retiring from his first Dakar in 2015, Brian Baragwanath impressed a year later when he finished on the podium of the quad race. A severe elbow injury forced him to stop riding and turn to four wheels. The strong man from Polokwane in South Africa is the perfect man for the CR6. Indeed for several years now he’s been working for Century Racing as an engineer. He therefore knows his car upside down. He’ll be counting on the help of Taye Perry in the navigator’s seat. The 29-year-old lived her dream of doing the Dakar last year and struggled her way through the dunes of Saudi Arabia to eventually finish in 77th position becoming, with Kirsten Landmann, the first South African woman to finish the event. A writer and part-time journalist, she’ll again have plenty to write about for that first experience in a car she’ll share with Brian. Despite the lockdown, both were able to compete in the South African cross-country championship and test together and will be aiming at a Top 10 spot despite their rookie status.

BB: “After my appearances on the Dakar which was great, I suffered a big crash in 2016, injuring my elbow. That, and the fact that I started a family (married, with two children) pulled me away from bikes. I was looking for a new challenge. Of course the engineering aspect is great. I work on a daily basis on the CR6. I was fully involved and I had always wanted to come back on the Dakar. And Century Racing opened their doors. I know that it’s a lot more competitive in the car race, but we have a good base. Seeing Serradori win a stage last year in the CR6 and finish 8th is great for our confidence. The SRT team are actually our clients but we share a lot of information. We shouldn’t however forget that we are a small team and that we need to focus on essentials and that’s being consistent. We’ll push for results without making too much noise. A good result would be finishing in the Top 10 and finishing on the podium on some stages. But we’re very new in the dunes. Taye wanted to do the Dakar again and we had a friend in common. We started working together on the South-African championship and it went really well. And it’s also true that taking a South-African woman to the Dakar with me brings a lot of attention to the team.”

TP: “My dad used to ride bikes before I even existed but then stopped. When I was 12 I asked to have a bike and so my dad started again and it would be our weekend outings. I gradually went from 80cc to 125 to 250 and now 450 bikes. It kept getting bigger and I wanted more. I was planning to return to the Dakar on a motorcycle, but Covid-19 and all of its economic ramifications prevented that. So I immediately accepted when offered the chance to go racing in both the South African Cross Country series and next year’s Dakar. I think it all came together remarkably quickly in the car, because both bike and quad off-road racers are instinctive navigators, used to reacting immediately at high speeds. Having the luxuries of an air-conditioned cabin, a seat, a safety harnass and a roll-cage around one feels like sheer indulgence. So, the least we can do is give it our all.”