Mitchel van den Brink will make his debut in the Challenger class at next week’s BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal, driving a Taurus T3 Max from DaklaPack Rallysport.

Van den Brink is a rising prospect in the rally raid world. He won the 2025 FIA World Baja Cup in the SSV category and has three-peated at the Morocco Desert Challenge, both in a Can-Am Maverick.

At the Dakar Rally, he is coming off back-to-back podium finishes in the Truck category. Van den Brink led the Truck overall for much of January’s race before a disastrous stage on his 24th birthday knocked him out of contention. He salvaged a third in class.

Eurol Lubricants, his family’s primary sponsor on his IVECO and Can-Am, will also be on his Taurus. Other sponsors include the Van Loon Group, SF Group, and Heisterkamp. DaklaPack is the official distributor for the Taurus in Portugal.

Bart van Heun will continue to be his navigator.

Featured image credit: Eurol Rally Sport