“There are so many different brands this year!”
CREW FACTS
D.S.
- Car racing is a family business in the Schröder family! The father, Jürgen, has been racing the Dakar roads since 2009. He started as Alfie Cox's co-driver, before becoming a driver. He gave his passion to his sons Daniel and Maximilian, who also became competitors.
- Daniel completed the rally twice on a bike in South America and came back home with two finisher's medals (51st in 2011, 20th in 2012). Then, he gained experience in co-driving alongside his father in 2015, 2016 and 2019. The German took the driver seat in 2022, coming in as a late replacement for Jürgen, who was forced to pull out with a shoulder injury. And despite the fact that he hadn't gotten behind the wheel of a rally car in almost two years, he brought his Nissan Navara VK50 home in a creditable 36th place.
- After doing even better in 2023 (28th), Daniel decided it was time to pass a step. He felt that being in T1 was no longer enough to satisfy his competition needs: the 2025 Dakar will be his first in T1+. He aims to finish in the Top 15 with Henry Carl Kohne, a South African co-driver he met during the rally in 2022. They will compete with a Volkswagen Amarok prepared by WCT.
H.C.K.
- Henry is a pure product of South African off-roading. Rallying has been his passion since school, sharing it with his cousin. They started to be marshals on some races, before being competitors. Henry did a lot of kilometers as a navigator, so now he kind of knows every track of his country!
- Motorsport is a strong passion in his family, and it does not only concern his cousin: his father, his brother, and also his wife, are driving or co-driving! Henry is carrying on the tradition and is very proud to do his Dakar with WCT, who worked on the car and designed the chassis. The team also has the support of South African sponsors such as Alfie Cox Adventure Tours.
- The co-driver spread his good vibes with his compatriot Ernest Roberts in 2022, his very first Dakar. He met Daniel Schröder during the race, and the German will be his driver this year. A duo characterized by a lot of enthusiasm, passion and optimism.
2025 AMBITION
D.S.: “After driving in T1 in 2022 and 2023, I am now upgrading to a bigger car, a T1+. After 2023, there was no point in returning with an unpowerful car. This will be my fifth time as a driver, the third in Ultimate. I hope to do another Dakar in bikes in the future, but the preparation is physically much harder! For this edition, the car has good speed and the handling is also very good, so the goal would be to finish in the Top 15. It would be really nice to finish some stages close to the Top 10. I met Henry during the Dakar 2022, we had more or less the same pace so we were together at the start and finish of the stages. We did two races together, and so far so good. He’s a great navigator and a very nice and fun character. I’m looking forward to do the rally with him!”
H.C.K.: “We had some highs and lows during my first Dakar with Ernest, but we finished the race and that was the most important point. We planned to repeat it but we couldn’t, then I started to talk with Daniel and I jumped with him. We became friends during the Dakar 2022. We did two events together and we ended 1st privateers in a race in South Africa. It was a good opportunity to test the car and get used to each other. He has the experience of the Dakar and he’s fantastic in the dunes. The way he approaches it, reads it, is brilliant! He's already been a co-driver, so he understands both sides of the car. It’s nice to compete with have a Volkswagen and WCT, for us but also for the Dakar, because there are so many different brands this year!”
