Adrenaline junkie Giniel has limits
Dakar Rally star Giniel de Villiers enjoys his adrenaline sports over and above racing, from kite surfing to mountain biking, but there are endeavours even he prefers to skip.
“One thing I’ve never tried before and will never try is bungee jumping,” he told the Sunday Times in a video interview from his Stellenbosch home this week. “There’s just something about bungee jumping that doesn’t excite me.
“All the other things I’m not too scared of. I’ve even jumped out of a plane with Red Bull [one of his sponsors]. That was scary,” the Toyota Hilux driver added. “But jumping off a bridge, something looks wrong there.”
Thorough planning
He describes racing the Dakar as an “adrenaline high”, though that belies the thoroughness required in planning each year’s campaign requirements.
Even the SA rally championships late next month will form part of the preparation for the 2022 edition.
“A lot of people will tell you they spend the entire year preparing.
“We do a lot of other races, we do the SA championship here and a lot of times in these races we test some parts with an eye on the Dakar Rally.
“Through the year we do a lot of testing … in the Northern Cape, in Namibia. It’s a big process to get ready for the race.”
Since making his Dakar debut in 2003, De Villiers has raced on four continents, claiming one overall victory, seven other podium finishes and 17 stage wins.
“The one in Africa is a lot more wide open spaces, especially in the Mauritanian desert. There’s a lot of nothing there, you feel more exposed,” said the father of three.
“In South America you have 5-million people following the route, so you always feel close to civilisation.
“I would say African Dakars were some of my most challenging and the stages were a bit longer and probably a bit tougher. But certainly nowadays, the one in Saudi Arabia is probably a little more back to the routes in Africa — more desert racing, fewer people.”
One element he enjoyed this year was the bigger SA contingent, which included Brian Baragwanath and Henk Lategan, who each bagged two stage podiums.
There’s room for camaraderie outside the team. “It’s very nice to have South Africans on the race ... we always chat to them.”