“Our team is a beautiful story of international friendship”
CREW FACTS
F.T.
- Frank and Friedrich are long-time friends. They met thirty years ago when Frank was a student, and have always been together since. They know each other very well and have even lived together! In January, they will share the cabin of a Nissan Terrano II for two weeks. The car was specially designed for the Dakar at the beginning of the century, in the African era of the race.
- Frank Thiel has a long love affair with bikes, cars and motorsport. Frank’s dad used to be a steward on the Monte-Carlo rally in the 70s and his uncle had a garage repairing and restoring pre-war cars. As he says, he “grew up with motorsport in his milk”. He raced moto-x and enduro when he was younger and later started racing in FIA historic rallies both at home and in Sweden and Finland. To participate in the Dakar Classic was an obvious choice for him.
- Led by Frank, Friedrich and their friend Adi Ruhaltinger, the Montana Racing structure is growing and welcoming new clients. All staff included, there will be 12 people in the team in 2025! A beautiful story that the two German entrepreneurs see as a way to create memories and build international friendship, with people united by their passion for rallying and adventure.
2025 AMBITION
F.T.: “I will have two roles on this Dakar: driver of my car, but also team leader. Let’s see how it goes! We have people coming from Germany, Switzerland, the United States, Austria, Italy… I call it international friendship! It’s a beautiful story. We also want to organize things with the Saudi people, because we don’t just come here as a company for a service: we want an experience, to enjoy the place, to share and discover new things. I believe in friendship and corporation. In the race, our goal is to finish and write a beautiful story. I’m enthusiastic. I did a lot of enduro and circuit racing with vintage cars, and with the Dakar Classic, I can finally live my dream. It will be Friedrich’s first rally so my goal is to bring him to the finish line. I want to prove that it’s a tough race but if you’re committed, you’re smart, you understand the rules and you love it, you can do it.”
F.S.: “It will be my first rally, I’m curious and thrilled to be part of it! I have been watching motorsports since I was 12 or 14, I have always watched rally and Formula 1, but let’s say that motorsports are not really famous in Germany. It would be nice to get a bit of exposure with our adventure. When we started to set up our project, several interested people contacted us. Bringing them to the Dakar is incredible. I came to Saudi Arabia last year and I found very friendly people, happy to welcome you. It was a very pleasant experience. For sure, the goal is to finish the rally as it’s a big challenge. A guy in our team will do it for the fifth time, he’s very experienced and he told us that it’s more a marathon than a sprint!"
