"We fully believe we can win"
Crew facts
D.K.
- David Kripal is a talented navigator who made his first competitive outing in a truck at Dakar 2025, guiding Ales Loprais to third overall. He returns in 2026 for a second appearance with Loprais Team De Rooy FPT and his eighth in total.
- The 43-year-old competed in the cars at the Dakar between 2018 and 2024, mainly alongside Tomas Ourednicek. Their best result together was 17th in 2019, and they also won the Morocco Desert Challenge in 2017.
- David had a real adventure on Dakar 2023, when he was supposed to be working as a photographer for Overdrive. Instead, he was thrown into a Century CR6 at the last minute as a co-driver for Frenchman Antoine Galland, and they soon realised had no common language. Despite all manner of hiccups, they made it to the finish line in Dammam, only to discover they were officially DNF.
Ambition
D.K.: "Last year was an amazing experience. I'm very happy to be with Ales in the cabin, he's a great person and an amazing driver. We had some technical issues with our leaf springs on the marathon stage, but these things happen. It's Dakar. We still won five stages and our overall position wasn't bad, but it must be better. This year we will do our best to be the best. The trucks are absolutely crazy. I've competed in a Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux, a Ford Ranger, and a Century buggy, but the trucks are out of this world. For me it's the best category at the Dakar. The cars can go at 170km/h and we are limited to 135km/h, but on some stages we were close to the top 20 overall. It's absolutely crazy how fast the trucks are. Our truck is very well prepared, and I hope next year will be for us. But this is Dakar. You can be very well prepared, but you still need a healthy slice of luck."
