“My goal is to enjoy every second”

From the Netherlands, where the family originates, to South-Africa, where they moved a couple of decades ago, the Klaassens discovered “cowboy country”. And now they’re gearing to dive deep into the desert with a first participation in the Dakar. Used to driving, Sebastiaan will take on the co-pilot seat as his daughter Puck comes behind the wheel for this family experience, their first in the Dakar… But hopefully not the last. Puck was only a few weeks old when the family moved to South Africa. At 21, she already has loads racing experience, mostly on bikes -and she obviously dreams of doing the Dakar on two wheels. A leg injury means she can’t ride at the moment, but she can drive, following the track of Julien Texier, whose experience in the Dakar Classic inspired Sebastiaan.

S. K.: “I have a house in Champéry, Switzerland, and I’ve always known Julien. This summer, we were having lunch at the opening day of his new restaurant. There was loads of wine. He told me about the Dakar Classics he had done in 2022 and 2023 and the same day I bought his car.
The goal is mainly to have fun and to enjoy the experience. Puck drives and if she does well we might look at the real Dakar for her in 2025 - I’ve seen there are a lot of South African teams around.
I have zero experience as a navigator but I have done years of rally driving so I guess the learning will progress as we go. I am currently training for navigation while Puck is driving as many different cars as she can, but she has never driven the car we’ll use in the Dakar.”


P. K.: “After my leg injury I couldn’t race motocross anymore which is when I started leaning towards rally, which has always been something I have wanted to pursue. After Julien Texier told us about his Dakar Classic experience, I completely fell in love with it and since that day it’s all I have thought about.
I am beyond grateful for my dad for giving me this opportunity. To be able to do this with him is something that will stay with us for life. I am a complete rookie with a big passion for cars, especially old classic cars, and it’s my dream to do something as cool as this with my dad navigating me through it and being on this journey with me.
My goal is to enjoy every second of it and complete this adventure with my dad. I hope that my 2024 Dakar experience will put me in the right direction towards hopefully doing the main Dakar rally in 2025.”