“Adventure is the most important element”

Nicolas Brabeck-Letmathe is taking part in the Dakar for the eighth time in 2023, but it is set to be a particularly memorable edition. While he is competing alongside new co-driver Brice Aloth in the SSVs, his father Peter and brother Andres will be driving a pair of Mitsubishi Pajeros prepared by Team Casteu in Dakar Classic. Motorsport has always been a family affair for the Brabeck-Letmathes; former Nestlé CEO Peter was once the chairman of Formula One and already did Dakar Classic last year, his Chilean wife boasts a remarkable collection of motorcycles, and the whole family used to go on big bike trips together in South America. Nicolas inherited a real sense of adventure from his parents, and for him that remains the most important ingredient at the Dakar. Though he doesn't get quite the same rush driving an SSV as he used to riding a bike -finishing as high as 38th in 2019- he still wants to improve on his recent finishes with Bruno Bony (15th) and Ezequiel Fernandez Sasso (20th). Brice has similar instincts, having spent many years competing in jet skiing with his cousin and multiple world champion Jeremy Poret. The two Frenchmen did their first Dakar together last year, settling for 38th place after some mechanical mishaps, and actually got to know Nicolas by helping him make repairs after a crash. That sense of Dakar solidarity led to Nicolas asking Brice to join him in the T4s for Dakar 2023. The cosmopolitan Austrian -who has lived all over the world and speaks five languages- is looking forward to a more challenging route in this 45th edition, but remains confident that he and Brice can enjoy a successful outing in their Can-Am Maverick.

N.B-L.: “To be honest I wasn't planning to do the Dakar this year, because motorbikes are my first love; cars are great, but not as exciting. But the fact that my brother and father are doing Dakar Classic means the rally has a different sense and flavour to it, it's hugely important. The two times I did the Dakar in SSVs, I did it with someone I liked and had fun with. For me, performance is not the most important thing. Adventure is the most important element. I met Brice last year and he's a very fun guy. He's also very experienced and talented in all things mechanical, which is good in SSVs. From a navigation perspective, he has a short but solid experience, and I'm able to help out with that because of my biking background. So I'm looking forward to it. Obviously when you race, you always want to have a good position. In the past two years we weren't really close. So we'll do our best, but it's not the driving force behind our participation.”

B.A.: “In my family we love motorsport. Our background is jet skiing, we've been passionate about it since childhood. I used to compete, and my cousin Jeremy is a multiple world champion. We got into rally-raid a few years ago because it was something the two of us could share, which is pretty exceptional. We did our first Dakar together last year. It went pretty well but we had some mechanical problems on one stage, which probably cost us five or six hours in repairs. We actually met Nicolas because he had a big crash one day and we helped him to repair the car, so we got to know each other and hit it off. Jeremy couldn't do the Dakar this year because of his jet skiing commitments, so it was nice to get a call from Nicolas. I've made good progress as a co-driver, and he's an ex-biker so he navigates very well, especially in the dunes. I think we can do a good job together."