“It is a pretty egotistical obsession”
CREW FACTS
R.C.
- Rui Carneiro won the Road to Dakar category on the inaugural 2020 Andalucia Rally, leaving him with very little time to take get ready for his ‘free’ 2021 Dakar entry.
- His mother was thrilled for him, while his father cautioned him that the entry fee was just the tip of the financial iceberg. Of course, dads always know best!
- The very first day of that 2021 Dakar turned out to be a bit of a disaster for Rui and his equally rookie co-driver Filipe Serra, with the Portuguese duo finishing a long way down the rankings after a succession of punctures. That put paid to any hopes of a decent overall result but they regrouped to get a couple of Top 10 finishes and one Top 5 in the T3 class.
- Rui has been dreaming of going back to the Dakar ever since, but he’s a busy man. Working for the family business, principally involved in textiles and healthcare, plus being married with a 5 years old daughter means he’s time poor.
- This year however he managed to negotiate some time ‘out’ to feed his motorsport obsession, entering the Rally Raid Portugual and the Rallye du Maroc alongside professional navigator Ola Floene, aboard a factory GRallyteam OTR.
O.L.
- Ola is another competitor whose first love is motorcycles and he started out competing in moto-x.
- He actually participated on the Dakar for the first time way back in 2006 alongside the Austrian driver Raphal Sperrer
- Competing in WRC at Volkswagen Motorsport, his interest in rally raid was rekindled. Most of the staff had worked on the Dakar and continually regaled the Norwegian with tales from the world’s toughest motorsport event. In addition, the all-conquering Volkswagen Touareg was still in the VW workshop and Ola used to just stand and gaze at it, so fascinated was he by the car.
- In 2018 Ola decided it was time to make the switch to rally raid, except he needed to perfect his road book navigation. The solution -to enter rally raids in the motorcycle class. A period the Norwegian holds with special affection.
- While in this apprenticeship phase Ola was contacted by the man in charge of Red Bull’s Off-road junior team, Arnaud Duhamel who was looking for a co-driver for rising American star Mitch Gutherie.
- Without a drive for the 2024 Dakar Ola was recruited by Rui for the 2024 season with a view to forming an experienced partnership for the 2025 Dakar.
2025 AMBITIONS
R.C.: “To be honest with you my dream would be to enter the Dakar on a bike but that’s never going to happen. My family would kill me! When I was growing up, I’d be off riding enduro with my friends every weekend and even now it’s what I love to do most. I actually went and bought a KTM Rally Replica to ride just for fun. Still racing a T3 is a good substitute in terms of sensation and I’m very lucky that this year I’ve been able to do so much racing. I’ve even been able to test, rather than arrive at the last minute to race. My daughter thinks it is great. Every time she sees me with a helmet in my hands she thinks I’m going to race the Dakar. I don’t think she has worked out yet exactly how long I’ll be away! My wife however is better at maths! She is very supportive and happy for me that I can live my dream but it is a pretty egotistical obsession that takes up a lot of time. As far as my Dakar goals are concerned they’re a bit more ambitious second time around. We DNFed the Rally Raid Portugal but finished 17th overall on the Rallye du Maroc and 6th in the T3 class. A small improvement on that result on the Dakar would be great!”
O.F.: “I was actually planning to enter the Baja in Jeddah on bike just before the Dakar but Rui wasn’t keen (for obvious reason…). So, I said to him: ‘ok, if you rent a car for the event and we do it together I won’t go on a bike’. It’ll be perfect pre-Dakar training. Rui lacks time in a racing car but he is a genuine talent. On the Rally Raid Portugal, on the second to last stage, he wasn’t happy with his performance because he felt he wasn’t pushing hard enough. But I could tell he was quick. In the end we were just 90 seconds slower than Sebastien Leob who was also driving a T3 -and that guy knows how to drive! The OT3 is also a good car so I think we have all the ingredients to have a good Dakar. If Rui uses his talent for speed and doesn’t drive against himself, we could be in for a few nice surprises.”
