#230 🇿🇦Brian Baragwanath & 🇿🇦Leonard Cremer

“WE HOPE TO MAKE WAVES IN THE HISTORY BOOKS”

The man behind the steering wheel is also one of the key reasons why the Century Racing buggy is going so well. Brian Baragwanath isn’t only fast, he also knows his car by heart. Indeed for several years now he’s been working for Century Racing as an engineer. But his Dakar adventure started on a far smaller beast. He was indeed on a quad when he discovered the rally in South America. Despite retiring from his first Dakar in 2015, Brian Baragwanath impressed a year later when he finished on the podium of the rally. A severe elbow injury forced him to stop riding and turn to four wheels. Last year’s second edition in Saudi Arabia was his comeback to the event and what a comeback it was. As soon as the opening prologue, he hit hard by capturing second spot and managed a similar performance several days later on a proper Dakar stage. Finishing 7 times out of 12 in the Top 10 of stages, he would have deserved a far better finishing place (32nd) if it hadn’t been for severe mechanical setbacks. While his former co-driver Taye Perry will this time be in a cockpit alongside Cyril Despres, Baragwanath will be reunited with Leonard Cremer with whom he started competing back in 2016. Busy all year trying to make his CR6 even faster and more reliable, the South-African “hopes to make waves” for the tenth anniversary of Century Racing on the Dakar.

BB: “After my appearances on the Dakar which were great on a quad, I suffered a big crash in 2016, injuring my elbow. That, and the fact that I started a family (married, with two children) pulled me away from bikes. I was looking for a new challenge. Of course the engineering aspect is great. I work on a daily basis on the CR6. Last year’s Dakar was a great first outing for us. We were able to hold a good pace and we were actually surprised by how well we were able to set our pace without taking too many risks. This year, we hope to do the same. We’ve improved the car even more this year but so has everybody else. The development never stops. It’ll be Century Racing’s tenth year of the Dakar and as a small company we hope to make waves in the history books. If it’s not me, then at least one of the other drivers. I worked really hard personally all year long in a lot of the development. We were always at the test track, always looking for ways to go faster. I hope it pays off this year. I think it’s going to be a very exciting one. It was a fantastic experience with Taye (Perry) last year. When we got back from the Dakar, she wanted to settle in Europe. I’m really happy that she’ll be with Cyril (Despres). I’ll be with my old navigator Leonard. We’ve been competing together since 2016”.