“We can go green in an affordable way”

The Classic category is not only the occasion to revive some of the greatest hours of the Dakar. In 2023, Jaap Bolk and Marcel van Wort take on the challenges of the desert with the iconic Mitsubishi Pajero and with a “green ambition” that spans over the next few years. Jaap, the driver, races all year round in the Dutch Autocross championships, where he uses bio-ethanol. His first inspiration was to develop an electric buggy - such as Audi’s RS Q e-tron E2 - but he has now turned to biofuel in order to race a CO2 neutral Dakar. A biker turned co-pilot, Marcel van Wort enthusiastically embraced the project to “bring green in an affordable way”. Their first participation will be a “learning year” before they shift into high gear.

M.v.W.: “Jap was looking for a navigator. He was supposed to do it with someone else but that guy got hurt and I knew him so he told Jap to contact me. He called me: ‘Do you want to do the Dakar?’ It’s impossible to say no to that question. We met in the Summer and we started this project that also has the ambition of going green in Dakar.
We see other teams work with nitrogen but for a small team like us, it’s too expensive. But we have the budget to go green, using existing internal combustion engines that we adapt. This way, we can bring green to the Dakar in an affordable way and we want to promote this in the sport.
Jap is doing autocross and he uses bio-ethanol. We want to do the same in the Dakar. 2023 will be a learning year. We are driving a Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution that we have prepared for this edition. And we have another car that we want to develop to go green. Autocross are very short stages and we need to make sure the car can face the challenges of the Dakar.”