N°602 Car EUROL RALLY SPORT

MITCHEL VAN DEN BRINK

(nld) Born on 14/01/2002 1.9m / 82kg

Hobbies

Racing, motocross and fitness

Sponsors

Eurol, SF Group, Heisterkamp and Bouwman Groep

2024: 3rd (1 stage win)
2023: 4th (1 stage win)
2022: 10th
2021: 19th
2020: 23rd (mechanic for Martin van den Brink)
2019: Ab. Stage 3 (mechanic for Martin van den Brink)

2024: Morocco Desert Challenge (1st SSV) / Dubai International Baja (3rd Challenger)
2023: Morocco Desert Challenge (1st SSV) / Dutch Rally Championship / WRC Central European Rally
2022: Tunisia Desert Challenge (bikes, finisher) / Dutch Rally Championship / WRC Ypres Rally
2021: Silk Way Rally / Andalucia Rally (bikes, 1st Enduro Cup)
2020: Dutch Rally Championship (co-driver for Martin van den Brink)
2019: Silk Way Rally (4th) / Morocco Desert Challenge (4th)
2018: Morocco Desert Challenge (2nd) / Silk Way Rally (11th)

“We'll try to attack from the first stage”

CREW FACTS

M.v.d.B.

  • At just 22 years of age (he turns 23 on 14 January 2025), Mitchel van den Brink is already gearing up for his 7th (!) Dakar in the trucks, having taken his best result to date in 2024 (3rd).
  • The young Dutchman has followed in the footsteps of his father Martin van den Brink, a Dakar regular since 2009. Having grown up surrounded by trucks, Mitchel made his debut at the world's biggest rally in 2019, aged just 16, thus becoming the youngest competitor in Dakar history. After two years as his dad's onboard mechanic, he then became the youngest ever Dakar truck driver (18) in 2021.
  • For Dakar 2025, Mitchel has acquired a new MM Technology EVO 4 from his Czech rival Martin Macik, the defending champion in the trucks. Nicknamed 'Louis', the truck boasts an FPT 13,000 cc engine but weighs in at under 9 tonnes. Martin van den Brink will meanwhile be driving an MM Technology EVO 2 as he provides his son with in-race assistance.
  • Mitchel also made a couple of noteworthy appearances in the Challengers and SSVs in 2024. He finished 3rd in the Challengers at the Dubai International Baja (behind Nasser Al Attiyah and FIA World Baja Cup class winner Eduard Pons) and won in the SSVs at the Morocco Desert Challenge. His ultimate dream is to one day compete in a T1+.
  • A true all-rounder, Van den Brink Jr also does the Dutch championship in traditional rallying and made his WRC debut in Belgium in 2022. He has also competed on a bike at several events, even winning the Enduro Cup class at the Andalucia Rally 2021.
  • As well as racing himself, Mitchel runs the 'Brink Rally Experience', offering training courses for people who want to learn how to drive buggies and trucks in the dunes.

M.T.

  • Moises 'Moi' Torrallardona is a hugely experienced navigator who has been competing in the Dakar for over 20 years. The Spaniard joked last year that at the age of 58, he is older than his two crewmates Mitchel (22) and Jarno (25) combined!
  • Moi was a fan of motorsport growing up and made his earliest competitive outings on a dirtbike. His first major competition was the Camel Trophy in 1990. An ex-girlfriend helped to get him involved, and he was selected for the main event in Siberia, where the Spain team placed 4th overall.
  • Moi also has a great deal of experience organising offroad motorsport events.
  • He made his Dakar debut as a navigator for Pep Vila in 2004 and went on to finish as high as 6th with his compatriot in 2011. His most successful stint came alongside Dutch star Gerard de Rooy, with whom he tasted Dakar victory in 2016. They also finished on the podium together in 2017 and 2019, racking up a total of seven stage wins in three editions.
  • Moi met Mitchel at Dakar 2022 and started working as his navigator in 2023. So far, they have finished 4th and 3rd, and they're aiming even higher at Dakar 2025.

J.v.d.P.

  • Jarno van de Pol is gearing up for his third consecutive Dakar with Mitchel and Moi as the crew's&

2025 AMBITIONS

M.v.d.B.: “I'm really looking forward to the upcoming Dakar, it'll be a new adventure. We have a new truck built by Martin Macik. We started chatting about it during the last Dakar, then in February we met up to discuss future plans and made a deal in May. We agreed to buy two trucks from him, one for me and one for my dad. We're still two separate teams, but we'll be doing the service part together. The new truck has a really good concept. We tested it in Morocco, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands, and it saves a lot of weight compared to my old truck. It's better to drive and to handle. We have the same crew as last year, and Bart van Heun will navigate for my father, who'll be providing support for us. He'll try to stay close behind us and do the assistance. We're aiming for top spot and we'll try to attack from the first stage! We'd like to do at least one more Dakar in the trucks, maybe more, but we also want to do some rallies with SSVs in the future. I did some driving with Bart in Morocco and Dubai this year to train for the future. This is just the beginning. The biggest goal is to do T1+.”

M.T.:My best memory of the Dakar is of course the victory in 2016! The biggest lesson I've learned is to never give up, go day by day and focus on consistency. Winning one stage doesn't give you points, and the following day you start again from zero. It's great being in the truck with Mitchel and Jarno, they make me feel younger. To be competing with them at my age is unbelievable! Both of them have better racing brains than some of the other, older drivers I've been with. I don't like to say too much about our ambitions and show what we're aiming for at Dakar 2025, but this year we have the best ingredients to bake the best cake.”

J.v.d.P.: “Mitchel and I have known each other for quite some time. He lives in the next village over, and we'd often run into each other at various Dakar and truck racing events. However, we first really talked when he joined De Rooy as a driver. I was also a mechanic there. From that moment on, things started to take off. We gained a lot of experience at Dakar 2024 and went through quite a bit during the rally! Fortunately, we managed to fix all the issues we encountered very quickly and still secured a third-place finish. We know what we're capable of and what we can achieve at Dakar 2025. We're heading into it with confidence and determination. We'll see how things unfold from there.”

Vehicle

EUROL RALLY SPORT

IVECO POWERSTAR
EUROL RALLYSPORT

  • IVECO
  • POWERSTAR
  • FPT 13,000 cc
  • 1050+ HP
  • 8760 kg
  • MM Technology
  • Eurol Rallysport
  • T5.1: Prototype Cross-Country Trucks

Ranking 2025

All news of M. Van den brink

Summary - 15/01 17:42 [GMT +3]

When opportunity knocks, Docherty and Roma answer the door

FOCUS

The Empty Quarter has to be earned. Dakar entrants had to wait until stage 10 to frolic on its dunes. The field rolled out of Haradh before the sun peeked over the horizon to tackle a road section of more than 500 kilometres en route to the shores of the Arabian Gulf. The time had come to surf a sea of dunes, where the Big Kahunas rule the waves, for 117 kilometres...

Newsflashes - 15/01 13:58 [GMT +3] - Car

Van Den Brink eager to get his own back

Denied victory on his birthday yesterday, Mitchel van den Brink struck first today. The Dutchman set the best time at km 45, four seconds ahead of Martin Macík. Yesterday's winner, Ales Loprais, is just 7 seconds behind.

Summary - 14/01 18:24 [GMT +3]

Luciano Benavides on the front, Al Attiyah on the hunt

FOCUS

 Haradh is located in the middle of the eastern province, the largest in Saudi Arabia, through which the vehicles of the Dakar caravan sped today, their riders and drivers intently focused to avoid being caught out by the tangle of tracks. Over a distance against the clock of 357 kilometres and at a high pace requiring speedy roadbook reading, the main pitfalls...

Reactions - 14/01 17:26 [GMT +3] - Car

Mitchel Van den Brink: “We were pushing all day”

Mitchel Van den Brink thought he was in with a chance of winning the stage on his 23rd birthday but finally lost out on victory to Ales Loprais in the last few kilometres of the special that took the competitors to Haradh. The Dutchman has only lost one minute and 29 seconds to his Czech rival, who is still third in the general rankings. The battle between the two men for second...

Summary - 13/01 17:59 [GMT +3]

A capital lead for Sanders and Lategan

FOCUS

The province of Riyadh stretches out over a vast expanse of land and occupies a central position in Saudi Arabia. The day’s special took place to the south of the capital, on split routes for the FIM and FIA vehicles, but both over distances of more than 480 kilometres. Impressive portions of dunes whetted the appetites of the sand specialists who are eager...

Newsflashes - 12/01 11:34 [GMT +3] - Car

Mitchel van den Brink rises to the top

At kilometre 89, Mitchel van den Brink continues his strong performance from yesterday, claiming the best time. The Dutchman has a 1'15'' lead over Martin Macík and 2' ahead of Ales Loprais. Kees Koolen moves up to fourth, 4'15'' behind the leader.

Newsflashes - 12/01 09:45 [GMT +3] - Car

Mitchel van den Brink takes off

Mitchel van den Brink, who claimed this third stage win of the year yesterday, is the first to set off today. Martin Macík, the defending champion and leader of the overall standings by nearly 1 h 50 over Van den Brink, follows in second place, aboard his MM Technology truck dubbed "Benny the Big Guy".

Summary - 11/01 19:37 [GMT +3]

The grit of champions

FOCUS

This stage could well have been a trailer for the 2025 Dakar, shining a spotlight on two aspects of the Saudi expanses where the 47th edition is taking place. The special had the potential to restore minds and bodies to their pre-race day condition, beginning with a long sector on fast plateaus where Ross Branch and Guerlain Chicherit blundered out of...

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