Rainbow Truck Team’s decision to skip the 2025 Dakar Rally in favor of the Africa Eco Race paid off as Gerrit Zuurmond piloted the MAN TGS to victory in the Truck class. The team announced Friday that it intends to return to the AER in 2026.

To prepare, the team will race the Baja España Aragón in July followed by the Fenix Rally in October. Two MAN trucks will be brought to the former, while one will race the latter and the other stays behind to be prepped for the 2026 AER.

“This is a luxury that the team now has. Two trucks that can be used alternately for major rallies,” explained the team. “That saves a lot of time in preparation. It also gives us the opportunity to participate in multiple rallies in a relatively short time. Is that smart or is that smart?”

Rainbow Truck Team finished 15th in Truck at the 2024 Dakar Rally, but opted to debut at the Africa Eco Race in 2025 to celebrate their ten-year anniversary. Competing against fellow Dutch team Dust Warriors in the Truck class, Zuurmond won five stages and claimed the overall by two hours.

Baja Aragón and Fenix Rally are new races for the team though they have previously run Rallye Breslau, which is organized by RBI Sport like Fenix. Unlike Breslau, Fenix is a desert rally in Tunisia similar to the climate that the AER offers, making it an ideal location to train. Aragón is the fifth round of the FIA World Baja Cup.

The 2026 Africa Eco Race runs from January 24 to February 7.

Featured image credit: Rainbow Truck Team