Paul Spierings‘ sixth Dakar Rally will happen in tandem with Roger Grouwels‘ second. On Thursday, the previous’s Dakar Crew Spierings introduced a brand new partnership with Grouwels’ Crew RaceArt to discipline Can-Am Mavericks for his or her homeowners within the T4 class on the 2024 version in January.
“Roger and I’ve totally different backgrounds in bikes and motorsport, however by sharing one another’s data and expertise we will each transfer ahead,” mentioned Spierings. “We complement one another completely and the collaboration with RaceArt is a good increase for the whole staff.”
After three years on bikes, a stint that notably noticed him save fellow rider CS Santosh after a near-fatal accident in 2021, Spierings made the swap to SSVs in 2022 and completed twenty-first at school general. He improved to fourteenth in 2023 with a finest each day end of seventh in Stage #12; it was one in all 4 top-ten stage finishes alongside an eighth in Stage #8 and a pair of ninths in Stages #10 and #13.
In distinction to the 36-year-old Spierings, Grouwels is almost twice as previous at 58 and made his Dakar début in 2023. Competing within the T3 class, his race ended after 9 levels along with his highest placement being twenty-second in Stage #6.
Grouwels hails from the world of pavement racing, primarily competing within the Ferrari Problem and GT sequence. He received the Supercar Problem’s Tremendous GT championship in 2014 and 2015, together with the Ferrari Problem Europe’s Coppa Shell Professional Am title in 2020; he additionally secured the world championship within the latter marketing campaign. In 2022, he completed second within the Supercar Problem GT standings with a weekend sweep at Zolder.
Formally often known as Crew RaceArt-Kroymans, Grouwels’ outfit fields Nissan GT-Rs and Bentley Continentals within the Supercar Problem. His son Jules additionally races for the staff.
He started dabbling in rally raid with novice occasions just like the Rallye Breslau and Morocco Desert Problem. Forward of the 2023 Dakar Rally, Grouwels competed within the 2022 Rallye du Maroc however failed to complete.
The brand new partnership, dubbed Dakar Crew Spierings RaceArt, will first compete on the Rallye du Maroc in October to organize for Dakar. They may also convey a 3rd Can-Am as a help automobile.
“Roger and I each wish to begin with the most effective materials, and we’ve got chosen Can-Am buggies as a result of that is an already examined and developed idea,” continued Spierings. “It’s no assure that we’ll keep out of bother, nevertheless it does assist lots. We don’t wish to go away something to likelihood and that’s why we began preparations very early. We attempt to work out as many issues as attainable intimately and put together correctly, all the things for the very best outcome.
“After ending the earlier 5 editions and partly in view of the fabric we’ll begin with, you can not preserve saying that you just aiming for simply ending. The purpose is obvious: to complete within the high ten and ideally with each buggies.”
The 2024 Dakar Rally begins on 5 January.
