“We have one of the best car in the history of the Dakar”

In the 1990s, the Mitsubish Parejo was ruling the Dakar and motor enthusiasts in Europe were graced with TV shows such as Super Champs and Run the Gauntlet. Herman van Oldenmark and Leonardus Schouten could tell you many stories about this whole era - they were Dakar enthusiasts, so much that they now take on the desert with the iconic car that won the rally 12 times between 1985 and 2006, and they worked together on the development of Super Champs and Run the Gauntlet. With a solid experience in historical rallyes, Herman made the most of the new Dakar Classic category to take on the Dakar himself last year (53rd at the end). His competitive spirit makes him much more ambitious for the next edition. But his adventures from 2022 were already enough to inspire his friend Leonardus to join him for the 45th edition of the Dakar, 40 years after Mitsubishi’s first participation.

H.v.O.: “Last year was my first Dakar and it was absolutely new for us, not only because of the desert but also the regulations. I’m a very experienced driver. I've done historical rallyes for over 20 years now, but nothing can compare with what we find in the Dakar. Driving in the sand is a whole different story. It was a difficult challenge but the atmosphere was incredible, and it was very nice to enjoy the friendliness of everyone in the race and in the organisation. We learned a lot and we hope to show it this year.
We want to feel this atmosphere again and we hope to do a lot better. The car came back from Marseille in February and we started to rebuild it with the whole experience from Dakar last year. We changed everything within the rule book. The ambition is to finish in the top 10.”


L.S.: “I was very interested when Paris-Dakar started and I’ve been following it since then. And I’ve known Herman for decades. I followed his Dakar last year on Facebook and it was so exciting so I asked him if I could be his navigator and we joined forces. We have a great car - one of the best ever in the history of the Dakar - our cooperation is good and now the challenge will be consistency. Herman is an experienced rally driver. And I’ve been driving in circuits like Zolder and then I’ve been navigating on several historical events, like the Rallye des Champagnes.”