TOYOTA

HL

• It’s been a bumpy road for Henk Lategan on the Dakar. A painful one too. After pulling out from the previous edition due to a shoulder injury, the South African returns with a vengeance.
• The South African grew up in the world of motorsports. At 15 years of age, he participated in his first regional event as his father Hein's co-driver. Less than a decade later, he became the youngest driver to win the South African rally-raid title.
• His career also led him to cross paths with his idol Sebastien Loeb on the roads of the Monte Carlo He didn't know then that they would meet again on the Dakar. At the time, the young Henk raced exclusively in traditional rallies behind the wheel of a Skoda.
• Considered as the rising star of rally-raid, the learning process was a rather tough one on the Dakar. His debut in 2021 ended with a severe shoulder injury on day 5. A year later, despite capturing two stage wins, Lategan couldn’t be entirely satisfied with his 31^st spot suffering quite a few navigation mistakes, mechanical upsets and a roll.
• It was much more like it in 2023 when at last he reached the finish in a very convincing 5^th spot.
• The 30-year-old based in Johannesburg returns after a great South African Rally-Raid championship campaign that saw him capture yet another title. He’ll be hoping to better his best performance in Saudi Arabia alongside his usual co-driver Brett Cummings.