Dakar 2024 – End of career for Dirk von Zitzewitz, co-driver of Yazeed Al-Rajhi

There will be no 25th participation in the Dakar for Dirk von Zitzewitz in 2024. The German co-driver, regular navigator of the Saudi Yazeed Al-Rajhi at Overdrive since 2020, will leave his seat to his compatriot Timo Gottschalk for the 45th edition which will begin on January 5, 2024 in AlUla (Saudi Arabia).

In an interview granted at the Germanic site Lübecker Nachrichten, Dirk von Zitzewitz, winner of the 2009 Dakar with Giniel de Villiers, explained that his bruised body needed rest. Injured in an SSV accident during the Baja Hungary in 2019 (a fractured collarbone and several ribs), he has since suffered irreversible after-effects such as a stiffened spine. The risk of worsening in the event of a new accident must be taken seriously... especially since this could have happened during the 2023 Dakar.

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Indeed, without him knowing it, Dirk von Zitzewitz had broken a thoracic vertebra following a shock in the passenger compartment of the Toyota Hilux T1+ during the 5th stage. A free warning which prompted him to step back and give way to Timo Gottschalk for the rest of the 2 W2023RC season.

“I need distance because I sometimes get nostalgic, explains von Zitzewitz. It’s still difficult for me to say that the Dakar chapter is over. There is a struggle within me. But it has to be done. Also to protect myself. » He deliberately refused requests and offers from Al Rajhi and other top teams.

Fifteen times German enduro champion, Dirk von Zitzewitz will organize motorcycle raids, including a trip to Kenya in… January 2025, during the Dakar. “ I feel more comfortable on two wheels rather than on foot! I feel like a biker at heart. »

Dirk von Zitzewitz won the first Dakar contested in South America in 2009 with Giniel de Villiers for Volkswagen. Photo DPPI / F. Flamand