"Our mission is to help Ford"
Crew facts
D.R.
- For the fourth 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 2025, and for the second straight edition they will be supporting the Ford M-Sport team of Carlos Sainz, Nani Roma, Mattias Ekström and Mitch Guthrie.
- 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 54-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. He has done a fair amount of cycling and downhill biking this year in order to stay sharp for Dakar 2026.
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 2026, Laurent and Victor went to the M-Sport factory in England to familiarise themselves with the new evolution of the Ford Raptor T1+. They already spent a week there learning about the car in the build-up to Dakar 2025.
V.B.
- 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. He has also worked on events like the Roses des Sables.
- The crew's common language is English, but as well as their native tongues Czech and French, Victor speaks German and Laurent speaks Spanish, so they are able to communicate effectively with other competitors out on the track.
Ambition
D.R.: "Fast assistance is a nice job and I'm happy we're back again in 2026. It's very much the same as last year. Same truck, same crew, same clients, even the same race number! I think I'm doing a good job, which is why they keep hiring me. I also have a very good crew. With the assistance truck it's not always about speed, you also have to be smart. Our mission is to help Ford, so we'll try to be as close as possible to their cars. It's different when you're taking care of amateurs and gentlemen drivers. They need a little bit more care because they make strange mistakes in the middle of nowhere and it can be more difficult to find them. But they're not in such a rush. Factory teams are more predictable. The crews are more skilled and precise, but there are bigger time constraints if they have an issue. And I suppose it's more prestigious to be supporting them. I think Ford have the best drivers. The team is very good technically, they take everything very seriously, they're trying to do their best. Our mechanics even had to go to their factory to train on the new cars. No factory team wins the race first time round, so maybe this year will be the one."
L.L.: "It was a great experience working with Ford last year and this will be another nice challenge. We have a pretty versatile crew. We can all do each other's jobs, so we always work together to be as efficient as possible. There's a really good atmosphere in the truck. Victor and I went back to M-Sport to see how the Raptor has evolved. We have a proper partnership with Ford, they're doing a great job. They're super professional, extremely rigorous, and we like living up to those standards. In order to provide assistance, we're obliged to follow the normal rally route. But once we've stopped to help, we liaise with the organisation and they tell us what to do, if they want us to take a different route out of the special. In the T5.2 class you don't feature in the final standings. When we start the rally, we know we won't end up on the finishers' podium. But that's not why we're here!"
V.B.: "I can't wait to be back on the Dakar. These guys are more than a second family, we get on really well. The Ford Raptor has been upgraded for Dakar 2026, so it'll be interesting to see how their crews perform. I think it could be a good year for them. When we're in the truck, I always try to keep an eye on the track. I'm a little higher up than Dusan and Laurent so I sometimes see things before they do. I also keep an eye on the roadbook. And as well as the usual mechanic duties, I'm the one who's in contact with Ford M-Sport, to see how everything is going for the cars we're supporting. We have to be ready to intervene as quickly as possible. It's also important to be familiar with the rally regulations so we know the possibilities and consequences of what's happening out on the track."
