Team Rhide SA from Pretoria, who made their debut in the quad category of the 2015 Dakar Rally, claimed exceptional results with Hannes Saaijman winning the first timers class and finishing in the top ten (quads) while he was also the only South African competitor to win a stage.

Two of South Africa’s most experienced off-road quad champions made up the team, Brian Baragwanath and Hannes Saaijman, who tackled the Dakar Rally as Team Rhide SA. These two riders are both from Centurion.

At the Dakar Rally, the team had to deal with an early disappointment when Baragwanath experienced engine problems during the first day and he later had to withdraw. Saaijman (32), who broke his right hand 10 days before the start of the Dakar Rally, soldiered on despite also experiencing numerous flat tyres (he carried a spare wheel on his quad) and other mechanical problems caused by the long hours of racing and riding under extremely tough conditions. The Pretoria businessman reached his goal to finish the Dakar Rally and completed more than 9 000 kilometres during the two weeks with his Yamaha Raptor 700.

He finished ninth in the quad category. A total of 45 quads started the race and only 18 made it to the finish. Saaijman also won the first timers class and he was the only South African competitor to win a stage with a victory in the quad category on the final day during, bracing muddy conditions. A total of ten South African competitors started the Dakar Rally on 4 January in the quad, motorcycle, car and truck categories.

Looking back Saaijman remembers a few days he describes as ‘some of the worst days in my life’. These few days were in Bolivia where it was extremely cold and he did not have enough warm clothing. It also rained heavily while they were on their way to the start of the stage and the rivers were in flood. “The Dakar is not a race,” Saaijman said afterwards. “It is survival! The terrain is extremely rough and the dust is very, very bad,” he said at the halfway mark in Chile.

“It is not like any race we know in South Africa and you have to approach it differently. That is what I decided to do after starting the race a bit too fast and making mistakes,” he explained.