“Not too sure what to expect!”

The Dakar is getting younger and younger. After the likes of Seth Quintero, Pau Navarro and Eryk Goczal, Saood Variawa could be the next wonder kid on the Dakar block. At only 18 years of age, not only will the South African be discovering the rally, he’ll also be doing so in the most competitive car there is: a T1+ Hilux prepared by the official Toyota Gazoo Racing team. The young man’s journey to the Dakar actually started on circuits. He indeed first started by karting reaching the highest of FIA championships. Then came touring cars and it wasn’t before this year that he started shifting to off-road rallies while also competing in the South-African GTC Series. Variawa has of course a strong relationship with the Dakar, his dad Shameer who first started off-road racing with his father Abdul in the mid 90s went on to take on the biggest of all rallies in 2019 back in Peru. At the time, Saood had come to visit and was already astonished by the size of the event. He’ll have even more time to spend on the bivouacs of the Dakar this year for his slightly anticipated debut. The Johannesburg native knows he’ll have to pace himself in order to reach the finish and will be counting on the precious help of François Cazalet, his co-driver to be. The Frenchman who has competed in the past with young references such as Cristina Gutierrez and Guillaume De Mevius should be the perfect wingman for newcomer Saood.

S.V.: “I remember watching the Dakar on TV as a kid. I then became a huge fan when my father was racing it. I even went to Peru in 2019 and then to Saudi Arabia in 2021 and 2022 to see him compete. I was impressed by the organisation. It’s insane how big it is. It was always in the works but the plan was to come in 2025. Based on my results we decided to come in 2024. I’m not too sure what to expect. The aim is to finish before even consider pushing. I met François Cazalet, my co-driver thanks to Nasser Al Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel who suggested his name. He came to South-Africa for a race and it clicked well. He’ll be there to back the pace down. I’m used to shorter sprint formats and I need to build my endurance. The longest stage I ever did is around 250kms long. I can also count on the help of my father who rubs the team and coaches me on a daily basis. Honestly I didn’t expect to be part of a factory team on the Dakar at such a young age. Also the main goal will be to have fun. And to have fun with François. We’ll play “paper, rock, scissors” in the morning to decide on who choose the music for the long liaisons.”

F.C.: “It was quite a battle to get into the T1 class. Things were undecided with Guillaume De Mevius and I got a call from the Variawa family. To show them what I was worth, I told them I should come down to South Africa for the last round of the cross-country championship so they could see. And things went well on the first stages although we did crash eventually. But the family treated me so well. They welcomed me in their home. And eventually I signed a contract for the next season (W2RC and SACCS) which is amazing for me. I have no pressure. Saood has everything to discover. We spent a week in Namibia which was a dream and several days in the Toyota workshop in Johannesburg. I now need to pace him. He’s a thoroughbred, he knows when to push on the throttle. He has no limits but I like that. I bet on drivers like Cristina Gutierrez and Guillaume De Mevius in the past and it payed off.”