Igor Bouwens, from IVECO dealer and garage Gregoor in Ham, Limburg, will start this weekend’s famous Dakar Desert Rally with the Gregoor Racing Team. “I would like to finish between place five and ten and, if things go well, a bit higher,” it sounds ambitious.
In Al Ula, an oasis in Saudi Arabia, the 46th edition of the Dakar rally kicked off on Friday 5 January 2024. For the third year in a row, Hammener Igor Bouwens (second from the left in the photo) and the Gregoor Racing Team are in the race. A team of nine has now arrived and is ready to sleep in a tent in the desert for three weeks.
Normally there should have been 10 of them, but Gregoor Bouwens, the team’s founder, is not there yet. “My father had an accident with his speedpedelec and is still rehabilitating from a hip injury,” says Igor Bouwens. “But if all goes well, he will still come to Saudi Arabia in the second week. I can imagine him going crazy at home following the game from behind his computer.”
After the experience of the two previous editions, the bar has been raised again. “I would like to finish between place five and ten,” says Igor Bouwens. “And if everything goes well, a bit higher.”
‘Dakarist’
Igor, meanwhile, can call himself a ‘Dakarist’ with experience. After giving up in 2022, he was 18th at the finish line a year ago. In between, there were top results in the Tunisia Desert Challenge (winner in 2022) and the Morocco Desert Challenge (second in 2023). He had all those adventures with Senegalese Syndiely Wade as co-pilot and Ulrich Boerboom from Balen as on-board mechanic.
Sand desert
Little or nothing has changed about the Iveco T-Way either. Experience, reliability and a well-robed partnership are great assets in the Dakar. “I am sure we have one of the strongest teams,” says Igor Bouwens. “Our co-pilot Syndiely navigates very well and our mechanics are all very competent people. I can go to sleep every night with peace of mind, I know our Iveco will be ready again in the morning.”
“I expect a very tough Dakar with another two days in the Empty Quarter, the sandy desert where we were stuck for a long time last year. I really don’t think many trucks will make it to the finish. If we do, we will be in the top ten anyway,” Bouwens concludes.
