Anja Van Loon and her husband Erik Van Loon will return to Saudi Arabia in 2025, albeit with some twists. While the former will be in the now-familiar confines of a truck contesting the Dakar Rally, the latter will make his début in the Dakar Classic as the driver of an Audi S1.
Erik raced the Dakar Rally from 2009 to 2023 with a best finish of fifth in 2015. His thirteenth and final start in 2023 began with a second-place finish in Stage #2 before retiring with a rollover five legs later. Although he continues to run rally raids today, the Dakar is too physically demanding for him to continue.
In contrast, the Dakar Classic is a navigation-based rally that uses vehicles built before 1999, meaning there is significantly less pressure and physical toll. His Audi S1 is being prepared by Coen Donkers, a fellow Dutchman who competes in historic rallies and the Goodwood Festival of Speed in Audi replica cars. Donkers and Audi Sport Veghel are also building Dakar Classic challengers for local drivers like Hans Stacey, the 2007 Dakar Rally Truck winner.
“The Dakar Classic is a regularity rally where the focus is not on speed but on the experience and driving through Saudi Arabia,” commented Erik. “Anja will be driving the truck again and I will be there anyway so I find it fun to participate. This way, I can still support her and also see some of the country. I will do this with an Audi S1, which I tested last week in France, and it’s just a lot of fun to drive. Coen Donkers is building the car and will build a few more for some other former Dakar participants from the area, so we have a nice group together.”
After finishing fourteenth in T3 (now Challenger) at her first Dakar Rally in 2023, Anja switched to an IVECO truck for the 2024 edition. She led an all-female team with Floor Maten and Marije van Ettekoven as co-driver and mechanic, the first truck crew composed of strictly women since 2004. Racing for Team de Rooy, she finished twelfth in class with a best stage finish of ninth twice in Stages #5 and #7.
For 2025, however, she expects to have a co-ed team and explained, “I don’t know yet exactly what that will look like in terms of composition. In any case, it will not be with three women.”
Although retired from the Dakar, Erik continues to make sporadic rallly starts in various Bajas and World Rally-Raid Championship rounds in a Can-Am Maverick for South Racing. He and Anja will race Mavericks in the upcoming Morocco Desert Challenge on 11–20 April.
