“We'll try to attack from the first stage”
CREW FACTS
M.v.d.B.
- At just 22 years of age (he turns 23 on 14 January 2025), Mitchel van den Brink is already gearing up for his 7th (!) Dakar in the trucks, having taken his best result to date in 2024 (3rd).
- The young Dutchman has followed in the footsteps of his father Martin van den Brink, a Dakar regular since 2009. Having grown up surrounded by trucks, Mitchel made his debut at the world's biggest rally in 2019, aged just 16, thus becoming the youngest competitor in Dakar history. After two years as his dad's onboard mechanic, he then became the youngest ever Dakar truck driver (18) in 2021.
- For Dakar 2025, Mitchel has acquired a new MM Technology EVO 4 from his Czech rival Martin Macik, the defending champion in the trucks. Nicknamed 'Louis', the truck boasts an FPT 13,000 cc engine but weighs in at under 9 tonnes. Martin van den Brink will meanwhile be driving an MM Technology EVO 2 as he provides his son with in-race assistance.
- Mitchel also made a couple of noteworthy appearances in the Challengers and SSVs in 2024. He finished 3rd in the Challengers at the Dubai International Baja (behind Nasser Al Attiyah and FIA World Baja Cup class winner Eduard Pons) and won in the SSVs at the Morocco Desert Challenge. His ultimate dream is to one day compete in a T1+.
- A true all-rounder, Van den Brink Jr also does the Dutch championship in traditional rallying and made his WRC debut in Belgium in 2022. He has also competed on a bike at several events, even winning the Enduro Cup class at the Andalucia Rally 2021.
- As well as racing himself, Mitchel runs the 'Brink Rally Experience', offering training courses for people who want to learn how to drive buggies and trucks in the dunes.
M.T.
- Moises 'Moi' Torrallardona is a hugely experienced navigator who has been competing in the Dakar for over 20 years. The Spaniard joked last year that at the age of 58, he is older than his two crewmates Mitchel (22) and Jarno (25) combined!
- Moi was a fan of motorsport growing up and made his earliest competitive outings on a dirtbike. His first major competition was the Camel Trophy in 1990. An ex-girlfriend helped to get him involved, and he was selected for the main event in Siberia, where the Spain team placed 4th overall.
- Moi also has a great deal of experience organising offroad motorsport events.
- He made his Dakar debut as a navigator for Pep Vila in 2004 and went on to finish as high as 6th with his compatriot in 2011. His most successful stint came alongside Dutch star Gerard de Rooy, with whom he tasted Dakar victory in 2016. They also finished on the podium together in 2017 and 2019, racking up a total of seven stage wins in three editions.
- Moi met Mitchel at Dakar 2022 and started working as his navigator in 2023. So far, they have finished 4th and 3rd, and they're aiming even higher at Dakar 2025.
J.v.d.P.
- Jarno van de Pol is gearing up for his third consecutive Dakar with Mitchel and Moi as the crew's&
2025 AMBITIONS
M.v.d.B.: “I'm really looking forward to the upcoming Dakar, it'll be a new adventure. We have a new truck built by Martin Macik. We started chatting about it during the last Dakar, then in February we met up to discuss future plans and made a deal in May. We agreed to buy two trucks from him, one for me and one for my dad. We're still two separate teams, but we'll be doing the service part together. The new truck has a really good concept. We tested it in Morocco, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands, and it saves a lot of weight compared to my old truck. It's better to drive and to handle. We have the same crew as last year, and Bart van Heun will navigate for my father, who'll be providing support for us. He'll try to stay close behind us and do the assistance. We're aiming for top spot and we'll try to attack from the first stage! We'd like to do at least one more Dakar in the trucks, maybe more, but we also want to do some rallies with SSVs in the future. I did some driving with Bart in Morocco and Dubai this year to train for the future. This is just the beginning. The biggest goal is to do T1+.”
M.T.: “My best memory of the Dakar is of course the victory in 2016! The biggest lesson I've learned is to never give up, go day by day and focus on consistency. Winning one stage doesn't give you points, and the following day you start again from zero. It's great being in the truck with Mitchel and Jarno, they make me feel younger. To be competing with them at my age is unbelievable! Both of them have better racing brains than some of the other, older drivers I've been with. I don't like to say too much about our ambitions and show what we're aiming for at Dakar 2025, but this year we have the best ingredients to bake the best cake.”
J.v.d.P.: “Mitchel and I have known each other for quite some time. He lives in the next village over, and we'd often run into each other at various Dakar and truck racing events. However, we first really talked when he joined De Rooy as a driver. I was also a mechanic there. From that moment on, things started to take off. We gained a lot of experience at Dakar 2024 and went through quite a bit during the rally! Fortunately, we managed to fix all the issues we encountered very quickly and still secured a third-place finish. We know what we're capable of and what we can achieve at Dakar 2025. We're heading into it with confidence and determination. We'll see how things unfold from there.”
