“We have the experience to achieve a good result”

Forced to sit out Dakar 2022 after testing positive for Covid, Erik van Loon comes into his 13th Dakar Rally fighting fit in the Overdrive Toyota Hilux. Joined once more by co-driver Sebastien Delaunay for a second time, the Dutchman -a top five finisher at the wheel of the MINI All4 in 2015- and his French co-driver will be looking to break back into the upper reaches in the competitive T1+ class after a run of bad luck in recent editions. Moreover, Erik won’t be the only Van Loon competing at the 2023 Dakar Rally with his wife Anja making her debut behind the wheel of a Can-Am Maverick XRS in the Light Prototypes - T3 class.

E.V.L.: “I moved to a MINI and I finished fourth in 2015, then I moved to Toyota and the results were reasonable. Last year I was really ready for it and I had a good car, so I was aiming for a top five finish. This year a top 10 would be a good position for me.
“I have a really good co-driver and the atmosphere in the car is very good. Sebastien is French, I am Dutch, so we speak English. It makes more sense because he needs to pronounce things in a very simple way and gives me all I need to know, so we have a very good and strong team. Even if he makes a mistake or I make a mistake, there's always an atmosphere that stays well so we don’t get in any fights whatsoever. We have done 28 Dakars, plus other rallies, so quite some experience together to achieve a good result there.
“My wife Anja’s father used to do Dakar, first as a mechanic and later as a driver, then he brought his sons. My wife would go with them in the service truck and I asked her last year 'do you have anything on your bucket list' and she said 'only one thing and that's doing Dakar'.
“So we started, she got her licence, did some normal rallies in the Netherlands, Tunisia, Italy, Spain, Morocco, Andalucia and Dubai, and now she is doing the Dakar. So yeah, it is quite a big thing because only three women have ever done it.”


S.D.: “I started my first Dakar in 2009 and since then I’ve done it every year. I thought I’d just do it once to fulfil my childhood dream, but every year I say, ‘I’ll come back!’
“2015 was my most memorable Dakar so far. It was an amazing race with a lot of adventures. We rolled on the dunes, got stuck in the mud but still finished.
“We're feeling very well prepared for 2023 and ready to build on last year, when we were fast and consistent, always in the top five. Erik and I work together as a real team and it’s a very nice atmosphere in the car.”