“Winning the SSV category is my goal for the 2026 Dakar”
En resumen
G.C.
- When the Red Bull Off-Road Junior team were looking to replenish their ranks with fresh talent for the 2025 Dakar, Goncalo Guerreiro was an obvious choice.
- Gonçalo was born into a racing family with his (very proud) dad being the owner of JB Racing, a Portuguese outfit making chassis and parts for racing SSVs.
- Despite his young age, Gonçalo quickly established a fearsome reputation in his homeland, helped by victory in the SSV class at the 2022 Portuguese Cross-Country Championship plus three Baja Portalegre 500 wins.
- Guerreiro tasted further SSV glory in 2024 at the Baja España Aragon before being invited to race in the Challenger class at the Baja Morocco. It was Guerreiro’s first time racing in the desert and his first time inside the Taurus T3 Max but he more than rose to the challenge, putting his new car on the podium.
- Then on the 2025 Dakar, despite his rookie status, Goncalo took second place overall from the very first day and preserved that position for every stage but one all the way to the final finish.
- With the Red Bull Junior team disbanding, Goncalo won the 2025 bp Ultimate Rally Raid Portugal Challenger class for Nasser Racing, finishing an incredible 6th overall just behind the world’s best T1+ drivers. He then went on to prove his pure talent by winning the Portuguese national championship in a SSV against a whole host of T1+ entries, the first time anyone has ever pulled of such a feat!
M.J.
- Maykel Justo has co-driven a lot of Dakars but his 2025 participation was his first in a T1+. He sat alongside Markus Moraes, father of Dakar T1+ front runner Lucas and ex-organiser of South America’s biggest rally raid, the Rally dos Sertoes.
- Although Maykel enjoyed the experience, he isn’t unhappy of be back in an SSV. In addition to being fast, T1+ cars are also a lot less comfortable than an SSV and Maykel missed the extra suspension travel.
- Markus and Maykel didn’t trouble the fast guys on the 2025 but Maykel thinks that might not be the case with his new driver Goncalo Guerreiro…
Ambición
G.C.
“My dream after the 2025 Dakar was to race for Loeb Fray Media Motorsport, so I was pretty happy when I got the call! Clearly, after having finished second in the Challenger category in 2025, I only have one ambition for the 2026 Dakar and that is victory in the SSV class. It won’t be easy, there’s a lot of very talented drivers, especially in my own team, but that is the goal.”
“My dream after the 2025 Dakar was to race for Loeb Fray Media Motorsport, so I was pretty happy when I got the call! Clearly, after having finished second in the Challenger category in 2025, I only have one ambition for the 2026 Dakar and that is victory in the SSV class. It won’t be easy, there’s a lot of very talented drivers, especially in my own team, but that is the goal.”
M.J.
“I’ve just finished some testing with Goncalo Guerreiro in Mexico, in preparation for the 2026 Dakar and no question he is a very quick driver. Until now my best result has been 5th place. In 2022 and 2023 with Luppi we were fighting for the win, but both times bad luck deprived us of the result we were hoping for. So obviously we know anything can happen on the Dakar but for sure Goncalo has the speed to win.”
“I’ve just finished some testing with Goncalo Guerreiro in Mexico, in preparation for the 2026 Dakar and no question he is a very quick driver. Until now my best result has been 5th place. In 2022 and 2023 with Luppi we were fighting for the win, but both times bad luck deprived us of the result we were hoping for. So obviously we know anything can happen on the Dakar but for sure Goncalo has the speed to win.”
