Discover the stories of the Dakar's heroes Inside the Bivouac
N°215 Car OVERDRIVE RACING

ERIK VAN LOON

(nld) 1.88m / 81kg

Hobbies

Rally, Cross Country Rally, Skiing

Sponsors

The Blue Butcher, Heisterkamp Transport, Van Loon Group, Kroon Oil, Welte Transport, Fried van de Laar, BTB Group

2021: Ab. stage 5 (with Delaunay)
2020: 25th (with Delaunay)
2019: 25th (with Scholtalbers)
2017: 14th (with Rosegaar)
2016: 13th (2nd in stage 9; with Rosegaar)
2015: 4th (with Rosegaar)
2014: 27th (with Rosegaar)
2013: Ab. Stage 6 (with Wams)
2012: 16th (with Scholtalbers)
2011: 11th (with Scholtalbers)
2010: 46th (with Verhoef)
2009: Ab. Stage 11 (with Wams)

2022: Tunisia Desert Challenge (2nd, T3), Italian Baja (1st, T3), Baja Aragon (54th), Andalucia Rally (30th), Rally du Maroc (60th), Dubai Baja (Retired)
2021: Sharqiya Baja (6th), Jordan Baja (2nd), Andalucia Rally (4th), Baja Aragon (6th), Italian Baja (4th), Rally du Maroc (T1+ test), Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge (T1+ test)
2020: Andalucia Rally (37th), Hail Baja (9th)
2019: Rally du Maroc (32nd), Silk Way Rally (10th), Morocco Desert Challenge (ab stage 6)
2018: Qatar Cross Country Rally (9th), Baja Aragon (6th), Rally du Maroc (21st)
2017: Int. Baja Dubai (22nd), Qatar Cross Country Rally (6th)
2016: OiLibya rally du Maroc (ab), Baja Poland (5th), Hungarian Baja (ab), ELE Rally Holland (1st)
2015: Baja Russia Northern Forest (5th), Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge (2nd), Qatar Sealine Rally, Pharaons Rally (7th), Baja Poland (12th), Baja Aragon (6th), OiLibya du Maroc (12th)
2014: Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge (6th), Egypt Rally (3rd), Morocco Rally (3rd), Baja Spain
2013: Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge
2012: Morocco Rally, Dutch rally championship, Baja Espana
2010: Dutch rally champion

Interview

“We have the experience to achieve a good result”

Forced to sit out Dakar 2022 after testing positive for Covid, Erik van Loon comes into his 13th Dakar Rally fighting fit in the Overdrive Toyota Hilux. Joined once more by co-driver Sebastien Delaunay for a second time, the Dutchman -a top five finisher at the wheel of the MINI All4 in 2015- and his French co-driver will be looking to break back into the upper reaches in the competitive T1+ class after a run of bad luck in recent editions. Moreover, Erik won’t be the only Van Loon competing at the 2023 Dakar Rally with his wife Anja making her debut behind the wheel of a Can-Am Maverick XRS in the Light Prototypes - T3 class.


E.V.L.: “I moved to a MINI and I finished fourth in 2015, then I moved to Toyota and the results were reasonable. Last year I was really ready for it and I had a good car, so I was aiming for a top five finish. This year a top 10 would be a good position for me.
“I have a really good co-driver and the atmosphere in the car is very good. Sebastien is French, I am Dutch, so we speak English. It makes more sense because he needs to pronounce things in a very simple way and gives me all I need to know, so we have a very good and strong team. Even if he makes a mistake or I make a mistake, there's always an atmosphere that stays well so we don’t get in any fights whatsoever. We have done 28 Dakars, plus other rallies, so quite some experience together to achieve a good result there.
“My wife Anja’s father used to do Dakar, first as a mechanic and later as a driver, then he brought his sons. My wife would go with them in the service truck and I asked her last year 'do you have anything on your bucket list' and she said 'only one thing and that's doing Dakar'.
“So we started, she got her licence, did some normal rallies in the Netherlands, Tunisia, Italy, Spain, Morocco, Andalucia and Dubai, and now she is doing the Dakar. So yeah, it is quite a big thing because only three women have ever done it.”


S.D.: “I started my first Dakar in 2009 and since then I’ve done it every year. I thought I’d just do it once to fulfil my childhood dream, but every year I say, ‘I’ll come back!’
“2015 was my most memorable Dakar so far. It was an amazing race with a lot of adventures. We rolled on the dunes, got stuck in the mud but still finished.
“We're feeling very well prepared for 2023 and ready to build on last year, when we were fast and consistent, always in the top five. Erik and I work together as a real team and it’s a very nice atmosphere in the car.”

Vehicle

OVERDRIVE RACING

TOYOTA HILUX OVERDRIVE
OVERDRIVE RACING

  • TOYOTA
  • HILUX OVERDRIVE
  • Toyota Gazoo Racing / Overdrive Racing
  • Overdrive Racing
  • T1+: Prototype Cross-Country Cars 4x4

Ranking 2023

All news of E. Van loon

Dakar Mag - 14/01 16:44 [GMT +3] - Car

In the Van Loon saga, every end is a new beginning

In the Van Loon family, Erik has decided to take his final bow in the Dakar after his thirteenth participation, but he will be back to follow the exploits of his wife, Anja, who hopes to enter the next edition in a truck after racing in the T3 category this time round.

Family stories are a dime a dozen in the Dakar. One is playing out in the 2023 edition,...

Newsflashes - 07/01 12:57 [GMT +3] - Car

Van Loon rolls out of the race

The Dutchman lost control of his Toyota 99 km into the special. Erik van Loon was knocked out for a brief moment, but he had already regained consciousness by the time the medical team of the race got to him. He has been flown to hospital, where he is currently undergoing a work-up for cervical pain. Van Loon and his co-driver, Sébastien Delaunay, had started the...

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