It’s been five years since Jurgen van den Goorbergh last did the Dakar Rally, having taken time away to focus on his son Zonta’s own racing career. Now that he’s confident Zonta can stand on his own, Jurgen is ready to get back into the navigator’s seat.

In 2026, he will run his first Dakar since 2021 as the navigator for Kees Koolen. It will be his 12th time competing in the event.

Van den Goorbergh has raced at Dakar since 2009, completing in nearly every kind of vehicle. He started on a bike in 2009, finishing 17th overall on debut, before switching to a buggy in 2010. After three years on four wheels with not much success, he returned to motorcycles in 2015 and placed third in his class.

In 2016, the “Flying Dutchman” was 31st overall and won the Malle Moto subcategory, which he’s described as the “best achievement in my career.” Van den Goorbergh continued on a bike through 2018.

He and Koolen teamed up for the 2020 and 2021 Dakar Rallies, sharing a Can-Am Maverick for both editions. They were 17th in T4 in 2020 before improving to sixth the following year.

After the 2021 Dakar, he scaled back his racing to support Zonta’s career. The 19-year-old is currentl in his fourth season of Moto2 racing, sitting 21st in points. The older van den Goorbergh was also a Grand Prix motorcycle racer in the 1990s and early 2000s, competing in both MotoGP and the Supersport World Championship.

“Until last year, I went to almost every race,” he told Omroep Brabant. “But that took up a tremendous amount of time and energy. Zonta is 19 and finding his own way. I’ll stay involved, but not in everything anymore. That’s given me the freedom to take on things like the Dakar Rally again.”

Koolen’s usual navigator Wouter de Graaff plans to race himself, so he was happy to reunite with van den Goorbergh. Besides physical training, the duo plan to race the Rallye du Maroc in October to prepare for Dakar.

Featured image credit: Maxim Shatrov / Red Bull Content Pool