After the Dakar Rally, Erik van Loon said he was going to focus on the FIA World Baja Cup in 2025. A challenging championship with eight races across Europe and the Middle East. Erik will participate with a Can-Am Maverick built by South Racing's team in the SSV class. The first rally will take place from January 30 to February 1 in Saudi Arabia and will be navigated here by Wouter Rosegaar.
Erik and Wouter last drove together in 2019. “That was during the Morocco Desert Challenge in a Toyota Hilux. Before that, of course, we drove together for years and in 2015 we made history together with fourth place in the Dakar Rally. I'm curious to see how it goes, after not driving together for several years. We'll go for a good result together and go for the win.”
They will do so in the car with which Erik tested a lot in 2024. “Last year I tested a lot for South Racing with the Can-Am Maverick R, so it was a logical choice for me to participate in the World Championship with this car. It is a very good and fast car and it is great to drive it through the desert. During the Dakar, this car won 10 stages, so the speed is not an issue.”
The World Championship starts in Saudi Arabia with a rally around Hail. “That Baja I have driven before and that is a very beautiful and diverse area with stones and a lot of sand. Two weeks ago with the Dakar we went there too, of course. I'm looking forward to that, I can't wait to ride again.”
After that, the World Cup will go to Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Qatar and Dubai. “Those are all fun rallies. Greece is new to me and Portugal has been a very long time, so I'm looking forward to that. I won in Italy in 2023, so I hope we can do that again this year. It's a challenging calendar with all kinds of things in it. During the season we will possibly do some other rallies, like the MDC and hopefully with the Subaru WRC. The focus is on the World Championship.”
The Baja of Saudi Arabia begins on Thursday, Jan. 30, with a prologue and the ceremonial start. This will be followed by two days of tests through the area around Hail. A total of about 400 kilometers will be covered at speed. For more information on the rally, visit https://www.saudi-championship.com/t-en/saudi-baja-25.
Automatic translation of the Dutch version
Source: Van Loon Racing
