Chasing dust and dreams - Advice from a rally veteran

If you’ve felt it… That electric jolt when the engine roars, the rush when the gravel flies, the dream of driving flat-out with nothing but dust and destiny ahead… Then you’re one of us. You’re a rally driver.

I’ve been hooked since I was a kid. My dad was a rally driver, and our ‘Sunday car’ was his race car. That kind of thing gets into your blood. He didn’t exactly want me to follow in his tyre tracks, so I raced behind his back. I’d build a roll cage into my car for the weekend, race it all over the country, then take it out on Monday so he wouldn’t know. Not the smartest move, I’ll admit now. But that’s how hungry I was.

Feeding the hunger isn’t just about speed. It’s about grit, teamwork, focus, and obsessive passion. It’s not cheap, and the road isn’t smooth. But if this is your dream, you should start now. Any car. Any track. Any chance to drive.

Take Jayden Els, our King Price Xtreme rising star. He was in a kart at five, rallying by 16. At that age, he couldn’t even legally drive on a public road and had to change seats with his co-driver every time they hit tar. But he buckled up. Every time. And now he’s turning heads.

Want in? Here’s what I’ve learned:

• Start young: It doesn’t matter what you drive – a kart, a simulator or a modified box, as long as it has wheels. Get in the seat and learn to feel the road. Do it now!
• Train your mind: Rally isn’t just fuel and fearlessness. It’s focus, fitness, and quick, calm thinking at high speed.
• Find your people: Rally isn’t a solo sport. Your navigator and back-up team? Your everything. Your family? Your support system that helps keep it real when things seem to be going off-track. Your sponsor? Your enabler and biggest cheerleader.
• There’s space for everyone: Our sport needs drivers, co-drivers, mechanics, engineers, managers, trainers, storytellers, sponsors, strategists… If you’ve got the fire, rally’s got the room.
• And yes, the track is level: Rally is one of the few sports where men and women race together, in the same cars and conditions, for the same titles. That’s how it should be.

At King Price Xtreme, our goal is to break down the barriers that keep talent out and we’re working on ways to make the sport more accessible. One possibility is looking at how young drivers could rent race-ready cars instead of having to fund them from the wheels up. It’s going to take more than a minute to hash out all the details, but watch this space.

And, if your heart’s already on the track, don’t wait. Race anything. Learn everything. Stay humble. Build your crew. Try, and then try harder. Again and again.

Here’s the truth: Rallying will test you. But it will also shape you. It will ask everything of you. But, trust me, it gives it all back… And then some.