“We'll need to be fast!”
CREW FACTS
D.R.
- For the third consecutive year, Dusan Randysek will be driving a fast assistance truck for Team SSP. The experienced Czech returns with the same crew from Dakar 2024, and they've been given the weighty task of supporting the Ford M-Sport team, who boast an all-star cast in the Ultimate class: Nani Roma, Mattias Ekström, Mitch Guthrie and reigning champion Carlos Sainz.
- Dusan has been involved in rally-raid for around 20 years. He started out on a bike, competing in domestic and European events before building up to his first Dakar in 2007. He returned after the move from Africa to South America, reaching the finish line at the third time of asking in 2010 (54th).
- The 53-year-old then switched his focus to lightweight vehicles, helping to develop one of the first prototypes -the Arctic Cat Wildcat- and competing in the emerging SSV class at Dakar 2016. In 2021, he took over from his brother Robert as the driver of the PH-Sport fast assistance truck, before doing the 2022 edition in Dakar Classic with his son Frantisek, to celebrate their 50th and 18th birthdays ("a unique experience"). They drove a 1960s-era Land Rover Series II, with Dusan joking that he was competing with "the oldest car and the youngest participant".
- Back home, Dusan's job is to buy, restore and sell classic cars. One day, he would love to do Dakar Classic again with all three of his sons.
L.L.
- Laurent Lalanne has had a passion for motorsport since childhood. A mechanic by trade, he's a regular in the French TT rallies championship as both a competitor and organiser.
- After getting to know Team SSP a few years ago, Laurent was invited to work on an assistance truck at an event in Portugal, before coming to Dakar 2023 and working as the onboard mechanic for another SSP fast assistance driver, Giso Verschoor. When he linked up with Dusan Randysek at 2024, he switched to the navigator's seat and invited his friend Victor Bouchwalder to join them as crew mechanic.
- In preparation for Dakar 2025, Laurent and Victor spent a week at the M-Sport factory in England, to familiarise themselves with the new Ford Raptor.
- Laurent didn't do any other rally-raid events in 2024, but went to the 4L Trophy and did some local asphalt rallies with his brother - "for a bit of fun".
VB
- Victor Bouchwalder is an agricultural mechanic who used to watch the Dakar as a kid, and always wanted to get involved. He did his first 4L Trophy in 2010 -more for the humanitarian aspect- then worked on an assistance truck there in 2019 and met Laurent, who got him involved in the Dakar. He actually came for the first time in 2023, working as a volunteer mechanic for Team SSP, before making his competitive debut in 2024.
- Last year the crew already looked after several vehicles in the Ultimate class, including MD Rallye and Century Racing buggies, but Victor says providing official assistance for Ford M-Sport will be "another challenge".
- The crew's common language is English, but as well as Czech and French, Victor speaks German and Laurent speaks Spanish, so they are able to communicate effectively with other competitors out on the track.
- Victor has also worked on events like the Roses des Sables. He did a little volunteering in 2024 but didn't have the time or opportunity to take part in any rally-raid events.
2025 AMBITIONS
D.R.: “Driving the assistance truck is sure to be very challenging again at Dakar 2025. It will be pretty much the same story as 2024, but we'll be expected to drive the whole rally, which will be more demanding. It's a new challenge, so I hope we'll do our best. We have a great truck, a bit lighter this year, and a very tight team. The most important thing is the chemistry between the three of us. Even if we didn't have a common language, I believe we'd be able to communicate because we're simply a great team. We like each other a lot so I'm glad we'll be together again. I think that's why Ford picked our support team, because they know we know what we're doing. We had some interesting moments at Dakar 2024, but generally speaking everything went well. It's obviously very risky to drive at night when you're towing a racecar. There's a 50-50 chance it will end badly, but so far luck has been on our side.”
L.L.: “I'd never been a navigator before, only in some small French rallies. It was my first time doing proper rally-raid navigation, and in English as well! So that was a double challenge, but it was still really good. I can't wait to go again. This year we're doing official assistance for Ford. We went to check out their new car, so we know what to do when we intervene in the rally. It was a really good experience, and quite a privilege to see what goes on behind the scenes at M-Sport. We're quite a versatile crew, that's something we've worked on. Victor has done a bit of navigation, I've done some driving, and all of us are mechanics. We're not 100% interchangeable, but we can certainly help each other out, and that's very important when we stop for a competitor in need.”
V.B.: “Last year was an amazing adventure. We had some tough moments, but it was fantastic. It was my first time participating in the rally and definitely a dream come true. I came away with lots of great memories, but we had a lot of work to do as well! We were looking after 13 crews in different categories, so we had plenty to keep us busy. We even gone stuck in a hole at one point in the Empty Quarter, and when other trucks tried to get us out, their tow ropes kept snapping! There were loads of photographers and journalists there filming the sunset, so I think we ended up on some Red Bull videos. We even left on foot to help out a competitor before we finally got going again. Then we broke down leaving the dunes and had to sleep out under the stars. Dakar 2025 will be another challenge, it shows we've managed to earn our place, which is pretty amazing.”
