At the age of seventeen, Eryk Goczał is hoping to become the youngest driver to compete at the Dakar Rally. Things took a step in the right direction on Wednesday when he received his Polish driver’s and competition licences, which he proclaimed he achieved on his first attempt, and were required for him to join the race. He will drive a Can-Am Maverick for Cobant-Energylandia Rally Team in the T4 SSV category with Oriol Mena as co-driver.
“This two sheets of paper are my tickets to make my dreams come true! I passed my Driver and Competitor License exams with the first shot,” Goczał posted on social media. “That means I can compete in the most difficult rally in the world as the youngest driver in history!”
He is the son of Marek Goczał, who owns the Energylandia amusement park in Zator, Poland, and races in the World Rally-Raid Championship. While not driving for his father’s team, Eryk supported worked as a team member as Marek finished runner-up in the W2RC T4 standings. This also entailed joining the team at the 2021 and 2022 Dakar Rallies, where Marek respectively placed eighth and fourth; his latest run saw him win four stages. Uncle Michal has also raced at Dakar with runs of fifth and fourth in two tries.
Goczał drives a BMW E82 in the Polish Drift Championships, winning the 2022 BMP category title with four victories. While drifting is a far different discipline from rally raid, he also dabbles in the latter in a Can-Am SSV. In September, he ran the Baja Poland as a non-championship driver to prepare for Dakar.
Mena worked with Rokas Baciuška at the 2022 Rally and finished third in SSV before joining Francisco López Contardo‘s team later in the W2RC season. López went on to win the T3 crown while Baciuška claimed T4. Mena previous competed at Dakar as a Bike rider.
Dakar Rally participants are required to be at least eighteen years of age to take part though waivers can be granted depending on their position such as mechanic or co-driver, as was the case with Goczał and Mitchel van den Brink, the latter of whom was also sixteen when he made his début in 2016. Mitchel will also be a teenage driver in 2023, albeit in the Truck category.
The 2023 Dakar Rally will begin on 31 December 2022.