WRC, Loeb, front somersault: 5 things to know about Henk Lategan

1. Huh? No, it's Henk!
Henk is Hein's son. Yes, in South Africa, it is a perfectly valid first name. In short, Henk immersed himself in motor sports thanks to his father Hein Lategan, driver of rally. He invited him to play co-driver in regional rallies at the age of 15. But very quickly, the desire to steal his father's place pushes him to jump into the left seat.

2. An early but frustrating rally career
At just 17 years old, Henk Lategan must drive a Volkswagen Polo S200 in the National Rally Championship. Launched too early, too quickly, it disappears into the background from its first test. Motivated and tenacious, the South African continued and even took advantage of his father's easy finances to compete in several rounds of the World Rally Championship 2 (WRC2) with a Soda Fabia S2000.

“My passion has always been rallying, and in 2015 I had the extreme privilege of racing in Monte-Carlo, at the same time as Sébastien Loeb, one of my childhood heroes », he declared in 2019. However, the results did not follow (13th in WRC2 in Portugal) and when Volkswagen South Africa withdrew its Motorsport budget at the end of 2015, it decided to return home.

3. Successful conversion to off-road rallying

In 2017, a test drive on a Ford Ranger 4×4 convinced him to try his luck off-road. Glyn Hall, the head of the South African branch of Toyota Gazoo Racing detected his potential and signed him a year later. His career took off. He won the title in the National Specialty Championship, ahead of a rally-raid expert, the winner of the 2009 Dakar and teammate, Giniel de Villiers. He repeats the same result in 2020 and 2021.

“Cross country racing combines so many different emotions – the adrenaline rush, utter exhaustion, teamwork, sheer determination and camaraderie, he reported in March 2020. It taught me a lot about myself and the sport in a very short time. My goal is to always reach the highest level, which is why I now see the Dakar as an achievable goal, although I still have a lot to learn from this sport. »

4. A spectacular somersault
The Dakar 2021 is Henk Lategan's first race with a road book distributed in the morning and above all a Way-point system. In other words, it’s his rally-raid hazing! However, he came very close to a stage victory in the first week.

Starting off on very high bases, Henk Lategan ended up making an error of judgment during the fifth special. A trivial placement error on the track caused a jump and a gliding flight from the front. Injured in the shoulder, he will choose to assist his team until the final finish rather than returning home. It’s the job that comes in.

A driving error that pays dearly on the Dakar 2021. © Florent Gooden / DPPI

“We arrived at a fast section, in a river bed, he explained to us. The note indicated a double warning, because there was a crevasse. The track made a left turn, then a long straight around the hole. We were 2 meters too far left at that point, and too fast. I braked as much as possible before accelerating again to put the nose of the 4x4 straight. It wasn't enough. The moral is thatIt is better to waste a little time when you feel that the situation is perilous rather than going all out! »

5. Prudence is the mother of safety
The lesson was well learned by the 27-year-old, who above all wants to finish the premier rally-raid event in 2022. “Last year I didn’t have enough experience,” he admitted to AUTOhebdo after his second time in the third stage. “That’s what cost me dearly. I didn't know how to ride in an open desert.

If I read the terrain better and am more careful, that would be better. I have to drive within my limits and my level of knowledge of the Dakar. I prefer to do this rather than take reckless risks to have a break. Otherwise we can quickly give up. »

Before the victorious fifth stage, Henk Lategan had not been spoiled by the problems on his Toyota Hilux T1+ with defective wheel fixings having cost him several hours.