“Every kilometre at the Dakar means money for charity”

Ondrej Klymciw is gearing up for his tenth Dakar outing as a competitor or team manager. The 38-year-old from the Czech Republic has been mad about motorsport since his dad bought him his first bike at the age of 10. After enjoying successful stints in dragster racing and enduro, he switched to rally-raid in 2013 and made his Dakar bow in 2015. He impressed, too, finishing as the second-quickest rookie behind Toby Price in 20th place overall. In 2017, he improved to 11th overall, finishing just 37 seconds outside of the top 10. However, a couple of serious crashes at Dakar 2016 and especially Dakar 2018 -where he was left fighting for his life- convinced Ondrej to bring a premature end to his motorbike career. He returned to the Dakar in 2019 and 2020 at the head of his own team, Klymciw Racing, notably helping to launch the career of a young Skyler Howes. And since 2021 he has been doing Dakar Classic in a Skoda LR130, which is now on its last legs and will enjoy a final hurrah in 2024. For this edition, Ondrej has decided to add a charity angle to his participation and raise funds for the Centrum Paraple in Prague. In Czech, ‘paraple’ means ‘umbrella’, but it is also an abbreviation of ‘paraplegic’. The Centrum Paraple is a recovery and rehabilitation centre for people who have suffered spinal cord injuries, offering physical and psychological support and encouraging them to keep living rich and fulfilling lives. Having had to learn how to walk again after breaking several vertebrae at Dakar 2018, Ondrej knows just how important their work is, and hopes to raise a significant sum at Dakar 2024 and then at a follow-up charity auction in March. For his fourth Dakar Classic outing, Ondrej will have a fourth different co-driver. After Petr Angelo Vlcek, Tomas Bohm and Bill Conger, he’ll be lining up with 19-year-old Josef Broz, the son of one of his friends, who is currently a student in the USA. Having fallen short in previous attempts to win Dakar Classic, Ondrej says he would be happy enough with a top-five finish, even if solidarity is the true objective of this 46th edition.

O.K.: “I got in touch with one of the biggest and most reliable charities in the Czech Republic, the Paraple Centrum. Every day and every kilometre at the Dakar means money for charity. I’ve been looking for sponsors for each stage. So for example, Mercedes might give five euros per race kilometre. If we finish a stage of 300 kilometres, we raise 1,500 euros. Plus they can put in some extra bonuses; if we finish in the top 20, they might give an extra couple of hundred. I hope that we’ll be able to raise around 3,500 euros per day, over the course of two weeks, so in the end it could be an interesting number. In March we will also be doing a big charity event with an auction. We'll be selling off 10 of the best photographs of the Dakar, signed by the people in the shots, for example Sebastien Loeb or Nasser Al Attiyah. I hope we’ll raise a lot of money. If we succeed, and I believe we will, then I’ll take it as the biggest victory of my racing career. My new co-driver Josef is the son of a good friend, he’s a clever young guy. He did some press and photography work at Dakar 2023. I’m coming with the same car. The first one was yellow, then it was black, then blue, and now it’s all of the colours from the last three years. I don't have the money to build a new car. This is my last Dakar with the Skoda, 100%. The car is damaged like crazy! It was built from poor-quality materials at the time, and now it’s even worse. Somebody thought I said it was my last Dakar, but I never say never.”

J.B.: “The love of motorsport runs in my family. I’ve been around motorcycle racing since I was a child, and the adrenaline involved always intrigued me. Last year, I got a chance to join Ondrej at Dakar 2023, where I helped with media creation and video editing for the Skodovkou Na Dakar socials. Even though I didn’t participate in the race, the three weeks I spent following it so closely and traveling through the breathtaking Saudi Arabian landscapes were an adventure and experience I will never forget. This year, Ondrej asked me to become his co-driver, and I accepted the offer without hesitation. I’m excited to take on this amazing opportunity of a lifetime. I’ve been getting ready to help Ondrej as much as possible during the race, and I can’t wait to see how well we can do this year. Our mission embodies two significant goals that we’re trying to achieve. Primarily, we're partnering with the Paraple Center, and all proceeds garnered through sponsorships, contributions, advertising on our car, and overall support will be dedicated to the center’s initiatives. While our aim is still victory -since a racer not aiming to win isn’t a racer- winning isn't our primary focus. The journey is about concluding with honor and helping as many people as we can."