“After 5 years of struggling we needed a good result”
En resumen
- One of the top drivers from rally-mad Lithuania, Vaidotas Zala made his Dakar debut in 2016, but his first two appearances ended in retirements due to mechanical issues with a Lithuanian-built Seat.
- The switch to a Toyota Hilux for the next two editions yielded more positive results, with Vaidotas coming as high as 12th in 2019.
- In 2020 - now driving an X-raid Mini - he made headlines by winning the first ever stage in Saudi Arabia, outpacing heavy hitters like Stephane Peterhansel, Carlos Sainz and Nasser Al Attiyah.
- The Vilnius native clearly has the speed and talent to finish in the top 10 - but mechanical problems have often been his Achilles heel. The 2023 Dakar was a case in point with Vaidotas forced to retire on the marathon stage with a broken gearbox.
- Back in a Mini for 2024 Vaidotas was again fast but again unlucky with his ranking ruined by engine failure. And it was while standing beside his broken car watching the first, fast trucks go by that Vaidotas decided that switching to those indestructible looking vehicles might be the way to go!
- And it was a gamble that paid off. They didn’t have a completely trouble free 2025 run but they did manage 6 truck category podiums and a 5th place overall. Enough to encourage Vaidotas, his faithful co-driver Paulo and new boy Max to come back for another crack at the podium.
- As a professional navigator, Paulo has raced in all sorts of vehicles but the T5 Dakar truck was definitely something out of the ordinary and a big jump from a T1+.
- But it was a challenge Paulo rose to with pleasure. He particularly enjoyed the trucks monster proportions and the feeling of security that he had sitting in it.
- He wasn’t unhappy with the result either and is optimistic that they can improve on it in 2026.
- Max van Grol comes from a petrolhead family. Working in motorsport by becoming a mechanic for the De Rooy team was a way “to turn a hobby into a job".
- Max made his rally raid debut last year on the Dakar at the tender age of 24. The goal was just to finish, so their fifth place was a definite result.
- The truck they will be using on the 26 Dakar is brand new. But given that he built it in De Rooy’s workshops Max is confident it will hold up.
Ambición
“To be honest my speed was better than I expected and without a couple of technical issues we could have maybe got on the podium. But still we were happy with 5th place, we really needed a decent result after 5 years of struggling. And I reckon my driving will be more fluid now. It was a steep learning curve the first week, but I got the hang of it and enjoyed myself. Happily, the Lithuanian public also enjoyed watching our progress, which obviously makes coming back easier. While it is true that there’s more space on a truck for sponsors, that space gets used up quickly and it is always a struggle every year to get back to Dakar. The month away racing is the reward for 11 months hard work. It is the cherry on the cake, but you have to be competitive. There’s no such thing as a cheap Dakar but in the truck class I can have a vehicle with which I can fight for the win within my budget. That’s no longer the case with a car, the costs have just exploded since the arrival of the Ultimate T1+ category. If I was surprised at how quickly I adapted to driving a truck, the other pleasant surprise was the atmosphere with the other truck competitors. From the outside it looks like a Czech / Dutch mafia but everyone was very welcoming. The drivers are skilled and motivated and their vehicles are prepared to a high standard."
“For me navigating in a truck was a big challenge. Because you have such good visibility you can cut the corners. In fact, you have to cut the corners because that is what all your competitors are doing. The problem is that you are constantly having to recalibrate your distance because it doesn’t correspond to that of the road book. Given that all three of us were truck novices I think the result was very positive and I really enjoyed the experience. If we hadn’t broke the prop-shaft, something that nobody had ever seen before and was probably down to a fabrication fault, we would have finished much better. It cost us at least 4 hours. It is a super competitive category but logically in 2026 we should be able to fight for the podium. I’m really looking forward to the battle.”
“I was super happy with our result. 5th for your first Dakar isn’t too bad! We haven’t done any races since but we tested the new truck we have built for the 2026 edition in Morocco and the upgrades we made worked really well. Because I built the truck, if we have a problem during the race I’m in trouble, so I’ve made sure everything is built properly!”
