“The preparation was a bigger challenge than the Dakar itself”
Crew facts
K.R.
- Karolis Raisys is a Lithuanian rally driver and Land Rover brand ambassador, also acting as a lead instructor for the brand in the Baltic countries.
- In Lithuania, a country deeply passionate about motorsport, the Dakar is the second most followed sport after basketball, giving his Dakar involvement strong national resonance.
- After first experiencing the rally from the inside as a media car driver in 2024, he made his competitive debut in the Dakar Classic in 2025 at the wheel of a Series 3 Land Rover 109 Station Wagon.
- With extremely limited preparation time and no technical assistance during the rally, he nevertheless finished 3rd overall in the Dakar Classic 2025.
- In 2026, he returns to the Dakar Classic with the same Land Rover 109 Station Wagon, benefiting from more extensive preparation, and teams up with a new co-driver, French navigator Christophe Marques.
C.M.
- Christophe Marques is an IT specialist in automotive instrumentation, who has been developing regularity rally timing systems for more than a decade.
- He has been actively competing in regularity rallies for around ten years, mainly with historic cars, but also in modern and electric vehicles.
- A regular competitor in the Rallye Monte Carlo Historique since 2016, he has also taken part in several Tour de Corse Historique, including a joint first place overall in 2023.
- He is used to race historic rallies with Bruno Saby and they will race together at the Monte Carlo in 2026 with Saby’s Renault 5 Turbo, the car with which Saby became French Rally Champion in 1981.
- Dakar Classic 2026 will be his first Dakar, where he teams up with Karolis Raisys as co-driver and Bruno Saby will be supporting them.
Ambition
K.R.
“My first Dakar was something truly special. I prepared for it in an unbelievably short amount of time. In just a little over one month, we transformed a barely rolling, forgotten barn-find Land Rover into a race-ready Dakar vehicle. Honestly, that preparation was a bigger challenge than the Dakar itself, it was a true 24/7 project. After that, the rally almost felt like a holiday… almost. Of course, Dakar is never easy. We competed without any technical support, fixing and maintaining the car entirely by ourselves. Watching our progress, from complete rookies to podium finishers, was incredibly rewarding. Finishing third overall in the Dakar Classic with such a never-tested and slow car felt like a miracle. It surprised not only the sceptics of the project, but me as well. Dakar is extremely popular in Lithuania, so bringing home the Bedouin trophy for third place overall in the Dakar Classic created a huge and very positive buzz. At the same time, it also raised expectations and added some extra pressure for the results in the coming years. After Dakar, I went straight to the Rallye Monte Carlo Historique, where we also achieved very good results. I didn’t have any formal training sessions with the Land Rover this year, but I really enjoyed sharing the experience, driving friends, fans and partners, and letting them experience what this heroic Land Rover is capable of. I spent a long time considering different plans for this year’s Dakar, but in the end I stayed true to the original idea, returning with the same Land Rover 109 Station Wagon. This time, I had more time to prepare. I didn’t make any major changes to the car; it remains slow and heavy, just as it should be. However, we focused on repairs and improved several technical solutions that significantly slowed us down last year.”
“My first Dakar was something truly special. I prepared for it in an unbelievably short amount of time. In just a little over one month, we transformed a barely rolling, forgotten barn-find Land Rover into a race-ready Dakar vehicle. Honestly, that preparation was a bigger challenge than the Dakar itself, it was a true 24/7 project. After that, the rally almost felt like a holiday… almost. Of course, Dakar is never easy. We competed without any technical support, fixing and maintaining the car entirely by ourselves. Watching our progress, from complete rookies to podium finishers, was incredibly rewarding. Finishing third overall in the Dakar Classic with such a never-tested and slow car felt like a miracle. It surprised not only the sceptics of the project, but me as well. Dakar is extremely popular in Lithuania, so bringing home the Bedouin trophy for third place overall in the Dakar Classic created a huge and very positive buzz. At the same time, it also raised expectations and added some extra pressure for the results in the coming years. After Dakar, I went straight to the Rallye Monte Carlo Historique, where we also achieved very good results. I didn’t have any formal training sessions with the Land Rover this year, but I really enjoyed sharing the experience, driving friends, fans and partners, and letting them experience what this heroic Land Rover is capable of. I spent a long time considering different plans for this year’s Dakar, but in the end I stayed true to the original idea, returning with the same Land Rover 109 Station Wagon. This time, I had more time to prepare. I didn’t make any major changes to the car; it remains slow and heavy, just as it should be. However, we focused on repairs and improved several technical solutions that significantly slowed us down last year.”
C.M.
“I come from an IT background, specialised in automotive instrumentation, and for more than ten years now I’ve been developing timing devices for regularity rallies. I’ve been practising regularity for about a decade, starting with the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique, which I’ve done almost every year since 2016, as well as several Tour de Corse Historique events, including a joint first place in 2023. I also regularly compete at the Monte-Carlo Historique with Bruno Saby, including with his Renault 5 Turbo, the same car he used when he became French Champion in 1981. We recently won our category at a rally two weeks ago, which is encouraging ahead of Monte-Carlo. Dakar 2026 will be my first Dakar. Karolis finished third overall last year, so the goal is clearly to try to do at least as well, even if it won’t be easy. The level is very high, with strong rivals from Spain, Italy, France and many other countries. We know it will be difficult, but we’ll do our best.”
“I come from an IT background, specialised in automotive instrumentation, and for more than ten years now I’ve been developing timing devices for regularity rallies. I’ve been practising regularity for about a decade, starting with the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique, which I’ve done almost every year since 2016, as well as several Tour de Corse Historique events, including a joint first place in 2023. I also regularly compete at the Monte-Carlo Historique with Bruno Saby, including with his Renault 5 Turbo, the same car he used when he became French Champion in 1981. We recently won our category at a rally two weeks ago, which is encouraging ahead of Monte-Carlo. Dakar 2026 will be my first Dakar. Karolis finished third overall last year, so the goal is clearly to try to do at least as well, even if it won’t be easy. The level is very high, with strong rivals from Spain, Italy, France and many other countries. We know it will be difficult, but we’ll do our best.”
