“The rally is harder than you imagine”

Guoyu Zhang enjoyed a superb Dakar debut in the cars a year ago, sweeping to an impressive 14th place alongside fellow first timer He Sha. Although the top rookie spot officially went to their teammates Binglong Lu and Wenke Ma in 13th, Guoyu and He technically finished as the best all-rookie crew, given that Wenke had already participated in Dakar 2020. For this 2022 edition, Guoyu will be linking up with another co-driver, Hongyu Pan, who successfully completed his third Dakar last year with another debutant, Yangui Liu. Guoyu and Hongyu will once again be representing the ambitious BAIC ORV team, who managed to get all three of their cars inside the top 15 at Dakar 2021. Unfortunately, the effects of the global pandemic mean that BAIC -Beijing Automotive Industry Corp, one of China's biggest car makers- will only be able to send one crew to Dakar 2022. Buoyed by their success at the last edition, Guoyu and Hongyu are now targeting the top 10 in Saudi Arabia. Guoyu hails from Changchun and has been taking part in cross-country rallies for over a decade, securing the T3 class victory at the Silk Way Rally in 2015. That year, Hongyu also achieved one of his biggest career results, guiding Wei Han to victory at the Taklimakan Rally. Racing opportunities were limited in 2021, but both men participated in the Dahaidao Super Endurance Race, and they will do a week of testing before the Dakar. In a competitive BAIC BJ40 and with support from Overdrive Racing, the talented Chinese pair will be looking to give some of rally raid's biggest names a run for their money.

G.Z.: “I was very happy to finish as the best all-rookie crew at my first Dakar. As a driver, I'd been longing to challenge myself on the Dakar for over a decade. The rally is harder than you imagine. It was all new for me: the difficulty of the stages and the variety of the terrain, particularly the big sharp stones. The last stage was perfectly designed, like a final exam, with all the landforms of the previous 11 days. When I reached the finish line, I felt very sad that the rally was over. I could have done more stages! The main reason there is only one BAIC car at Dakar 2022 is due to the many inconveniences caused by the pandemic. Last year, a lot of team members had a particularly lengthy quarantine when they got back to China, between 21 and 40 days. And it is Chinese New Year during that period. So it's a tough decision for many crews. But the team and the manufacturer still want to continue taking part in Dakar. This year, the team wants to try something new. I have never driven with Hongyu Pan before, although we've been teammates for many years. Hongyu and He Sha are the best co-drivers in China. But I'm very glad the team has made this decision. Hongyu has three years' worth of Dakar experience, and hopefully with his help we can improve. Our goal for 2022 is to beat last year’s result, and we will try our best to get into the Top 10 overall. I am very confident about driving with Hongyu.”