“I had such a brilliant time I just had to go back”
معلومات عن الطاقم
R.A.
- English engineer Richard Aczel doesn’t have your typical rally-raid competitor profile. For a start he’s not a total petrolhead, his day job is in the consulting industry where he is owner and CEO of a firm that specialises in consulting for technology companies. His first sporting endeavour was long distance running, entering such gruelling events as the Himalayan 100 Miles and the Great Wall of China Marathon.
- He did however run over much of the birthplace of rally raid, when he entered the Marathon des Sables.
- Dodgy knees prompted him to look at other ways of suffering. Which in turn saw him signing up for the East African Safari Classic with Tuthill Porsche in a 1972 Porsche 911.
- He enjoyed himself so much he went back the following year and fell thoroughly in love with off-road driving and wide-open spaces. Looking around for his next project his eyes alighted on the Dakar. A more logical choice would have been the Dakar Classic and Richard did explore the possibility, but being a bit of a competitor, in the end he opted for the T3 category.
- And it all went rather well. After a difficult start that had him struggling through the 3rd stage with a broken gearbox, he finished his 2025 rookie Dakar an impressive 17th overall in T3.
- In fact, he enjoyed the whole experience so much that he signed up for three subsequent rounds of the W2RC: the South African Safari Rally, the bp Ultimate Rally Raid Portugal and the Rallye du Maroc. And his results went too shabby either, with a 2nd place overall in South Africa and 2 10ths. Reflecting his focus on enjoyment rather than results, he didn’t actually bother to sign up for the W2RC championship!
W.R.
- If Richard doesn’t have much rally raid experience, the same couldn’t be said for his co-driver. Dutchman Wouter Rosegaar already has 17 Dakars under his belt. In 2024 he co-piloted for Brit rally star Kris Meeke, repeating their 2020 collaboration.
- Other stars to have benefitted from Wouter’s huge experience include Erik Van Loon, with the Dutch duo finishing 4th overall in an X-raid Mini in 2015. In 2025 Van Loon and Aczel shared Wouter’s talents, with Wouter making himself available to his compatriot for a number of Bajas, also aboard a Can Am T4.
- Since the 2025 Dakar Wouter has accompanied Richard on W2RC rounds in South Africa, Portugal and Morocco and feels the Brit is ready to up the pace for their 2026 Dakar campaign.
طموح
R.A.
“I was really a complete rookie when I lined up for the 2025 Dakar, so it was a bit daunting, but I had a brilliant time. It was challenging and exciting, on a whole different level to anything I’d ever done before and totally lived up its reputation. The sheer length of the event, the distance, the size of the dunes, it was bigger in every way, totally XXL. But despite the scale of the thing, everybody we encountered was friendly and helpful and the organisation was exceptional. It didn’t impinge on your adventure but was there when you needed it. For example, when we were struggling with our gearbox the organisers followed our progress and kept the refuelling open for us so that we could get through the special. When we started my only goal was to finish. I maybe went a bit too fast at the beginning but then I settled down. My co-driver Wouter is really great at setting the right pace and we improved gradually throughout the two weeks to finish much better than I expected. I remember going home and my wife saying: ‘you’re going back’. It wasn’t a question, my desire to return was written all over my face. In February I did some ice driving with a Can Am Maverick R and I really liked it so decided to use that on the rounds of the W2RC that we did. Although those races went pretty well, I’ll be starting the 2026 Dakar with the same ambition as for the 2025 edition, to finish and enjoy myself. If I start to push too hard, I make mistakes but if I just concentrate on having fun things go much better.”
“I was really a complete rookie when I lined up for the 2025 Dakar, so it was a bit daunting, but I had a brilliant time. It was challenging and exciting, on a whole different level to anything I’d ever done before and totally lived up its reputation. The sheer length of the event, the distance, the size of the dunes, it was bigger in every way, totally XXL. But despite the scale of the thing, everybody we encountered was friendly and helpful and the organisation was exceptional. It didn’t impinge on your adventure but was there when you needed it. For example, when we were struggling with our gearbox the organisers followed our progress and kept the refuelling open for us so that we could get through the special. When we started my only goal was to finish. I maybe went a bit too fast at the beginning but then I settled down. My co-driver Wouter is really great at setting the right pace and we improved gradually throughout the two weeks to finish much better than I expected. I remember going home and my wife saying: ‘you’re going back’. It wasn’t a question, my desire to return was written all over my face. In February I did some ice driving with a Can Am Maverick R and I really liked it so decided to use that on the rounds of the W2RC that we did. Although those races went pretty well, I’ll be starting the 2026 Dakar with the same ambition as for the 2025 edition, to finish and enjoy myself. If I start to push too hard, I make mistakes but if I just concentrate on having fun things go much better.”
W.R.
“Having driven more competitive kilometres and gained more confidence we hope to finish a bit higher in Dakar 2026. In 2025 we were driving purely to reach the finish. Now we hope to add some more speed and move into the midfield. I’m really looking forward to this next step.”
“Having driven more competitive kilometres and gained more confidence we hope to finish a bit higher in Dakar 2026. In 2025 we were driving purely to reach the finish. Now we hope to add some more speed and move into the midfield. I’m really looking forward to this next step.”
