“Rhythm is crucial”
Crew facts
G.F.
- Gaoxiang Fan is one of the most talented drivers in China and will be making his Dakar debut in 2026 for the highly ambitious JJ-Sport team.
- Now 32 years of age, Gaoxiang began competing in go-karts at the age of six and secured the Junior Chinese Kart Championship title in 2004 and 2005.
- He graduated to Formula racing at age 14, rally at 16, and then offroad rally at 24. He quickly underlined his abilities by winning the China Rally Championship in 2018 and 2019, establishing himself as one of the top names in the business.
- Gaoxiang joined the JJ-Sport team in 2020 and won the Great Road Super Offroad Rally at the wheel of the JJ1, the ancestor of the JJ3 he'll be driving at Dakar 2026. He was in the current car by the time he grabbed an overall podium at the famous Taklimakan Rally in 2024, finishing third behind Wei Han and Ping Sun.
- Between 2021 and 2023, Gaoxiang worked as a star driver on the CCTV-5 motorsport show 'Flying Life', coordinating and filming racing sequences for television.
K.Z.
- Kai Zhao heads to Dakar 2026 as the most experienced member of the six JJ-Sport crews. He competed in four editions of the Dakar in South America (2016-2019) as a navigator for He Zhitao, coming as high as 31st overall in the cars in 2017.
- Kai has loved motorcycles since junior high, then "became obsessed with cars" in high school. After graduating from university, he wanted to become a test car editor for a motorsport magazine, so he researched racing exams and decided to get his rally licence. The rest is history: "The moment I stepped onto the racetrack, I felt this was the life I wanted, and I've stuck with it ever since."
- The 43-year-old took part in his first offroad rally in 2008 - the Taklimakan Rally - and ended up taking overall victory! That laid solid foundations for his racing career, which led to another Taklimakan Rally win in 2012 and a Dakar debut in 2016.
- Kai joined the JJ-Sport team in 2025 and did a couple of events with Qu Zhibin: the Taklimakan Rally and Yecheng. He linked up with Gaoxiang Fan at Jinta and finished second overall, promising that "there's still room for improvement!"
Ambition
G.F.: "I am very excited and grateful to the JJ-Sport team for helping me to develop and bringing me to Dakar. Our race cars have achieved many good results in China and now they need to be tested at the world's biggest rally. Completing it will give the team more experience and help us to improve our car. The collaboration with Kai Zhao is going very well. He has talked to me about the Dakar and explained that rhythm is crucial. I'm very honoured to be here representing JJ-Sport and I will try to live up to their expectations. I hope I can finish the Dakar safely and get excellent results."
K.Z.: "During previous editions of the Dakar in South America, I encountered many 'firsts' with the drivers. We joked that if we collected seven 'firsts', we could summon a dragon. Well, I think we ended up summoning seven dragons! (laughs) The most unforgettable moment was standing on the finish line draped in the national flag. I hope to repeat that experience again in 2026. It's been seven years since my last Dakar, so I'm really looking forward to seeing my old friends again. Saudi Arabia is a new arena for me. Mentality is key. Being able to stay in control is crucial to our result. The longer the race, the better it is for us. At the Dakar, the driver and navigator start out as friends, become like brothers during the rally, then finish up like husband and wife! I hope that Gaoxiang and I can support each other and work hard together to complete this Dakar."
