Marnix Leeuw from Eindhoven made his debut in the Dakar Rally on Friday as a navigator in Sander Derikx’s buggy. He is only nineteen years old, making him the youngest participant to participate in the toughest rally in the world in Saudi Arabia. But for him it is only preparation for a greater goal. Leeuw’s dream is to drive the Dakar Rally himself in a truck.
Marnix Leeuw has a huge smile on his face when he gets out of the buggy after the prologue in the bivouac in Bisha. He is only nineteen years old and is already working on his first Dakar Rally. Everything is new, everything is beautiful.
“I think it is very beautiful and impressive,” he says. “It’s very cool to walk here among all the big men. We had the administrative inspection last week and then suddenly Sebastiaan Loeb passes by. You normally only see him on television! I actually wanted to ask for an autograph, haha.”
“The Dakar Rally is so impressive, it is my dream.”
Marnix has the racing virus from a stranger, because his father Marc Leeuw participated in the Dakar Rally four times in the past in a truck. “As a small child, my father was suddenly away for two weeks and my mother sat me in front of the television and I watched him drive,” says Marnix Leeuw. “That is so impressive and that is why it is now my dream.”
Because the buggy is only a stepping stone. Together with father Marc, Marnix has drawn up a plan for the greater goal. “What karting is to Formula 1, the buggy is to the Dakar Rally,” continues the Eindhove native. “The ultimate goal is for me to switch to the truck. Actually, I want to drive one next year.”
“I think it’s fantastic,” says Marc Leeuw about his son’s ambitions. “We rode the first rally together in a buggy and that was a great experience. The most important tip I give him is that he should be well prepared for the Dakar Rally. My first time was very amateurish. So let him First gain experience in the buggy.”
And that is exactly what Marnix will do in Saudi Arabia. But as a navigator and not as a driver. His participation in the Dakar Rally actually came a bit out of the blue. He was asked by buggy driver Sander Derikx.
“I really have something to prove, but it will be fine.”
“I still know Sander as a mechanic through my father,” says Marnix. “He navigated me during the last rally in Hungary. Afterwards he called me if we could turn the tables during the Dakar Rally. This is a great opportunity for me to gain experience in the Dakar Rally and I am taking advantage of it. ”
Leeuw immediately took it seriously. “I have driven a few rallies myself, but I still had to brush up on myself. I took a navigation course with Mitchel van den Brink and I myself roadbooks and drove it with my father. I really still have something to prove, but that will be fine.”
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This year, Omroep Brabant is also closely following the Dakar Rally. Look up every night Youtube and in the morning on TV to a new episode of Bivak Brabant Dakar and don’t miss any of the adventures of the Brabant participants in the desert.