Henk Lategan is officially a Red Bull athlete.

Ahead of the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal, Lategan was formally welcomed into the Red Bull Desert Wings by Carlos Sainz. Sainz, a four-time Dakar Rally champion and longtime Red Bull athlete, called him a “fantastic ambassador” and suggested he could be a future winner himself.

Lategan’s career has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the past year. After starring in the South African Rally-Raid Championship, he finished runner-up at the 2025 Dakar Rally. He was promoted from the domestic arm to the flagship Toyota Gazoo Racing in May ahead of the South African Safari Rally, where he scored his maiden World Rally-Raid Championship victory.

Entering Portugal, he is second in points behind Nasser Al-Attiyah.

The Red Bull Desert Wings is the energy drink company’s rally raid division, following those endorsed by Red Bull regardless of team and class. Besides Sainz, his new colleagues also racing Portugal include Al-Attiyah and his Dacia teammates Sébastien Loeb and Cristina Gutiérrez; Dania Akeel, Mattias Ekström, Gonçalo Guerreiro, and Pau Navarro in Challenger; RallyGP points leader Daniel Sanders and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing allies Luciano Benavides and Edgar Canet; and former Dakar Rally2 winner Harith Noah.

Lategan is signed with TGR through 2027.

Featured image credit: Edoardo Bauer / Edophoto / DPPI / ASO