Henk Lategan keen to bounce back from Dakar Rally heartbreak

Toyota Gazoo Racing man and co-driver Brett Cummings resume W2RC challenge in Portugal.

After having the time to reflect on yet another Dakar Rally close call, Henk Lategan is ready to resume his challenge in the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) in Portugal this week.

The Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC man and his co-driver Brett Cummings were lying second overall after 10 stages in the Dakar in January when a seized rear wheel ended their challenge. They lost four hours and had to be content with finishing the “World’s toughest race” in 21st place overall in their GR Hilux T1+.

Last year the pair made history by finishing just three minutes and 57 second behind race winner Yazeed Al-Rajhi, the closest the runner-up has been to the winner in the race’s history.

Henk Lategan believes in project

“This year was a different kind of close. We were really in the fight and properly in the fight all the time,” Lategan told The Citizen Motoring in a virtual call arranged by Red Bull.

“Dakar was the first time with the new Hilux. I believe in the car and the team that is around me. They are motivated and I’m motivated. We had a nice chat after Dakar and we are all on the same page. It is a new project and there is definitely more to come.

“We learned a lot. Some good lessons and some hard lessons. We’ve taken a lot of what we’ve learned from Dakar and the engineers have been extremely busy designing new parts. We managed to fit some of those to the car and had three very good days of testing in Portugal. Things look promising for Portugal.”

ALSO READ: Henk Lategan’s Dakar Rally challenge comes to a grinding halt

Chasing title race points

Rally Raid Portugal is the second of the five stops on the 2026 W2RC calendar and runs from Tuesday to Sunday. With less championship points on offer in Portugal, Argentina, Morocco and Abu Dhabi than at the Dakar Rally, Lategan and Cummings will have a tough time challenging for the overall title. Last year they finished third after winning the South Africa Safari Rally and adding a runners-up place in Portugal to their second place at Dakar.

“The goal for the next few races is to be on the top step of the podium. We did lose out on a lot of points at Dakar and are now also quite far back in the championship,” added Lategan.

“Because it’s a new car, we don’t know yet how quick the car is going to be in terrain like Portugal or Abu Dhabi. The main goal is still to learn as we go, but I’m a competitive guy and will try and push for the top step.”

ALSO READ: Henk Lategan has Dakar Rally title in his sights after regaining race lead

Classic rally-style route

The event in Portugal consists of classic rally-style routes which Lategan says offers a very precise challenge.

“Brett is an amazing co-driver and I’m really happy to have him by my side. I think he’s got a tough job ahead of him in Portugal. There are a lot of close calls that happens really quickly.

“In Portugal you rarely go off-road or cross-country. We don’t fully enter the wilderness and there is a lot of defined and gravel roads. Quite narrow. Some of the sections can be quite fast on these narrow roads which makes it tricky because the cars are 2.3 metres wide and they don’t also fit on those roads.

“You have to be very precise in squeezing the car through many trees and small gates on the narrow roads. It’s a race of precision. As soon as you put a wheel off the road, you can also lose that wheel really quickly.”

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