“A challenge that’s bigger than normal life”
CREW FACTS
K.K.
- Facing his 15th participation, Kees Koolen has lived many different adventures in the Dakar, from South America to Saudi Arabia, on a bike, a quad, in cars… He took his best overall result in an SSV (6th in 2021) and now takes on a new challenge in a truck of Martin Macik’s.
- After he skipped the 2024 edition, Koolen has prepared to his best for the Dakar 2025, whose challenging route gets him excited: “A long and tough Dakar has always favoured me.”
- The Dutch driver also feels he has now gotten used to the speeds of modern trucks storming the desert. A Top 5 is on the card, and let’s see if the door opens for a podium finish…
W.D.G.
- As the years and the Dakars go by, Wouter de Graaff has established himself as an essential figure in the desert, facing his 2025 his 11th participation, the 6th in a row.
- After a stint in the Challenger class with Lex Peters in 2024, De Graaff gets back in a truck with his friend Kees Koolen, who he already accompanied in 2022 (13th) and 2023 (ab.).
- The Dutch pair, joined by Czechia’s Daniel Kozlowsky, probably have the best truck they’ve ever driven in the Dakar, to aim for the higher positions of the overall Top 10.
D.K.
- ’s intimate relationship with motorsports, and especially with the Dakar, is perfectly embodied by Daniel Kozlowsky, an expert mechanic facing the world’s most iconic rally-raid for a 5th participation.
- After a first Dakar alongside Artur Ardavichus (2015), Kozlowsky discovered the Oranje legacy alongside Martin van den Brink, up to an 8th place in 2021.
2025 AMBITIONS
K.K.: “The Dakar is very important for me, it’s my annual rendez-vous. I’m always working very hard, long hours, but the Dakar gives me the discipline to train, be fit and have a good balance in my life. So, I hope I can keep doing it for many years.
I always decide before the summer and last year I felt I couldn’t prepare enough, because I had too much things on my mind. And if I’m not fit enough, then it becomes dangerous.
Now I’m very excited. I think the Dakar 2025 is perfect for me. A long and tough Dakar has always favored me so, we’ll see how my body will react, because I’m 59 now, but I love having the marathon stage in the first week.
If nothing happens to them, I see three people finishing first, second and third in the truck’s competition: Macik, and then Mitchel [van den Brink] and Ales [Loprais]. And then, we are six to eight people with almost equal chances. So, the one with the most luck will be 4th, unless one of the Top 3 has a big problem.
I think I’m now much prepared for the truck. I did it once, like ten years ago, and then I did it again in 2022, 2023, and it was a big surprise to me how good the trucks are now. You’re really racing. That should be fun.”
D.K.: “The Dakar is part of my life. Once you step in, you like it and it gives you a challenge that’s bigger than normal life. Life is not the same after it. And I come from an area with many factories and teams involved in this sport. So, I know a lot of people in that world and it becomes a big family.
My best result came in 2021, 8th with Mammoet Rallysport, and of course you always want more. So, let’s see if there’s a better result to come.
In the Dakar, you never know what’s coming and there are always some surprises. But I have some experience and I will give it my maximum, never give up until the end, to support the team to finish the Dakar in a nice fashion.”