“It all came together for me on the Rallye du Maroc”
CREW FACTS
R.A.
- English engineer Richard Aczel doesn’t have your typical rally-raid competitor profile. For a start he’s not a total petrolhead, his day job is in the consulting industry where he is owner and CEO of a firm that specialises in consulting for technology companies. His first sporting endeavour was long distance running, entering such gruelling events as the Himalayan 100 Miles and the Great Wall of China Marathon.
- He did however run over much of the birthplace of rally raid, when he entered the Marathon des Sables. As far as motorsport is concerned he had a relatively slim CV with only a couple of Formula Ford race to his credit in the early to mid-2000s.
- All that changed when the downfall of all long distance runners - dodgy knees - prompted him to look at other ways of suffering. Which in turn saw him signing up for the East African Safari Classic with Tuthill Porsche in a 1972 Porsche 911.
- He enjoyed himself so much he went back the following year and fell thoroughly in love with off-road driving and wide-open spaces. Looking around for his next project his eyes alighted on the Dakar. A more logical choice would have been the Dakar Classic and Richard did explore the possibility, but being a bit of a competitor, in the end he opted for the T3 category.
W.A.
- If Richard doesn’t have much rally raid experience, the same couldn’t be said for his co-driver. Dutchman Wouter Rosegaar already has 16 Dakars under his belt and last year co-piloted for Brit rally star Kris Meeke, repeating their 2020 collaboration.
- Other stars to have benefitted from Wouter’s huge experience include Erik Van Loon, with the Dutch duo finishing 4th overall in an X-raid Mini in 2015. In 2021 Wouter finished 2nd in T3.
- The unlikely pairing of Richard and Wouter came about after another ‘name’ in car rallies, Chris Patterson rang his friend Wouter saying he had someone who needed taking in hand. Chris will be keeping a keen eye on them in Saudi Arabia this year from the comfort of the M-Sport bivouac.
2025 AMBITIONS
R.A.: I went to see M-Sport to have a look at their T1+ but in the end opted for a more ‘sensible’ T3 class entry. I then started looking at the different options within that category and came across the Dutch Arcane team. I liked the car, which uses a Yamaha engine and gearbox and I liked the feeling in the team, which is friendly and not too big (for the Dakar they will have 4 cars in total). We went out to Morocco to train and I was really hopeless. I rolled the car several times and repeatedly got stuck. So, we decided to get some coaching from Gerard Farres and that was a big help and gave me enough confidence to enter the Morocco Desert Challenge back in April. Everybody was very friendly to the ‘new boy’ and I learnt a lot. Then I raced the Rallye du Maroc in October with Wouter and everything came together. I remember Wouter saying to me: ‘you’re really starting to enjoy yourself here’ and he was absolutely right! Our priority is above all to finish and get the medal. I can see why the best car drivers often have a background on 2-wheels, because in terms of understanding grip and lines it has certainly been a big help to me.”
W.R.: “Chris (Patterson) rang me and said he had somebody in need of my services. I met Richard and liked him straightaway so it wasn’t difficult to agree to a try out, co-driving for him on the Polish Baja. It was obvious he was a beginner and that there was a lot of room for improvement, but I could see there was potential. We did some tests in Morocco and then the Rallye du Maroc where things went much better. The 2025 Dakar will be different from last year, but I’m 100% behind the project. Above all Richard wants to get to the finish and I’ll do absolutely all I can do to help him achieve his dream.”
