INSIDE A RALLY DRIVER’S DAY

Henk Lategan, the Toyota Gazoo racer and one of SA’S most successful rally drivers, shows no sign of stopping.

in an interview with gq, 29-year-old rally driver Henk Lategan praises his father for showing him the ropes.

‘My dad started racing when he was 19, so I grew up around the racetrack. There are pictures of me from when I was two years old in a racing car. My mom says that when I started walking, she ran behind me in the pits trying to get me out of the way of the cars.

‘Rally driving has always been in the family. I’ve always been around it. I really started pushing to race in primary school, but my dad didn’t like the track-racing scene, so I didn’t get into it until later in life.’

The motorsport star says that off the field, he’s passionate about playing an integral role in his family’s business, which started very small but grew into a sizeable company.

‘I’m involved in the IT, systems and software development side, which keeps me busy outside racing, and things are becoming a little frantic, especially now that racing’s picking up. I also have a family, a wife and three children. It’s challenging to balance everything.

Last month, Henk became one of a few South Africans to finish the challenging Dakar rally, solidifying fifth place overall by finishing in fourth place in the eighth and final stage of the motorsport race.

He says it’s one of the most challenging he’s competed in, as it’s difficult to know which stages to go fast on and on which to slow down. The guys with more experience with the course know when to push and when not to.

‘We don’t race on way points in South Africa, we use GPS navigation, so you know if you’re on the right route. Whereas, Dakar gave you these imaginary points to go and find on the route. You could’ve been 2km off the road and you wouldn’t even have known until you couldn’t find the way point.’

Motorsports has taken him to remote places where he has treasured memories of the hospitality he’s received. He fondly recalls training in Greece for the Acropolis Rally (part of the World Rally Championship).

‘Myself and Barry White, my co-driver, were navigating the route, going through the stages, and the area was rural, small towns and roads, not many people, few houses, and we came across this little town with cobblestone streets.

‘It was past lunchtime, and we were hungry, so we stopped at a place that looked like a restaurant – even though we weren’t sure if it was – and everybody looked at us funny. The owner couldn’t speak English, but we were trying to explain to him that we wanted food. He told us to wait.

Then, I think he went to fetch his daughter or somebody at the back, and she spoke in broken English, and we told her we’d like some food and asked if they had a menu.

‘She said, sit here, and we’ll bring you food. And they brought us one of the best meals I’ve ever tasted, all these different tapas dishes.’

Despite not staying in one place while growing up, Henk’s a devoted, loving family man who loves the outdoors. He has two kids with his wife, Inante, whom he says he met by chance at a dinner party. She was accompanying her sister, who was interested in one of Henk’s friends.

‘I enjoy spending time with Inante and two sons. My eldest, Heinrich, is three years old and starting to figure everything out. Then, there’s my youngest, Sebastian, who’s eight months old, that age where he’s learning fine motor skills. You can actually see how we pick things up as people. It’s interesting.

Again, sharing his most treasured memories, he says their family home in the North West is where he spends most of his time.

‘We moved around the country a lot when I was a kid, settling in Hartbeespoort in the North West, where I’ve spent most of my life. We’ve been back here for a year and a half.

‘My favourite place to hang out is probably in the mountains, jumping on my enduro bike and riding up there. Usually, if we’re tired, we stop at the top of a peak and chat. Out in the bush, on top of a mountain, with a decent view!’

In his parting words, he describes himself as someone who also loves to take care of his body and shares his grooming tips, which include a haircut every three months.