Kees Koolen has done rally raids in every single category, having raced bikes, quads, trucks, UTVs, and cars. Next week, the lattermost will include the premier T1+ subcategory when he enters the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal in a Ford Raptor fielded by RD Limited.

“We are absolutely delighted to announce that our rally-raid program is stepping up with the entry of Kees Koolen and Wouter Rosegaar in the World Championship round in Portugal,” reads a Friday statement from the team.

Koolen raced T1 cars at the Dakar Rally in the early 2010s, finishing 59th overall in the 2012 edition with a GoKoBra buggy. However, much of his four-wheeled racing as of late has been in trucks; he and Janus van Kasteren are the only drivers to won the World Rally-Raid Championship’s short-lived Truck title.

In 2025, Koolen ran three W2RC events, all in different classes. After finishing fourth in Truck at Dakar, he was 15th in Rally2 at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and won the Veteran Trophy. He ended the year with a sixth in Challenger at the Rallye du Maroc.

This pattern is continuing for 2026 as he finished 12th in Challenger at Dakar. Portugal is the second round of the W2RC season.

RD Limited is owned by Romain Dumas. Despite being a Ford factory driver who’s starred for the Blue Oval at Pikes Peak, 2026 was his first Dakar in the Raptor.

Featured image credit: RD Limited