TOYOTA

The Dakar is getting younger and younger. After the likes of Seth Quintero, Pau Navarro and Eryk Goczal, Saood Variawa could be the next wonder kid on the Dakar block. At only 18 years of age, not only will the South African be discovering the rally, he’ll also be doing so in the most competitive car there is: a T1+ Hilux prepared by the official Toyota Gazoo Racing team. The young man’s journey to the Dakar actually started on circuits. He indeed first started by karting reaching the highest of FIA championships. Then came touring cars and it wasn’t before this year that he started shifting to off-road rallies while also competing in the South-African GTC Series. Variawa has of course a strong relationship with the Dakar, his dad Shameer who first started off-road racing with his father Abdul in the mid 90s went on to take on the biggest of all rallies in 2019 back in Peru. At the time, Saood had come to visit and was already astonished by the size of the event. He’ll have even more time to spend on the bivouacs of the Dakar this year for his slightly anticipated debut. The Johannesburg native knows he’ll have to pace himself in order to reach the finish and will be counting on the precious help of François Cazalet, his co-driver to be. The Frenchman who has competed in the past with young references such as Cristina Gutierrez and Guillaume De Mevius should be the perfect wingman for newcomer Saood.