At the end of stages 1 and 2 of the Dakarthe most surprising classification is the Challenger category, of lightweight prototypes. Goczal leads Goczal and with Goczal in third position. This is not a mistake. They are three members of a Polish family, dressed as Dakar teammates, partners on the track and on the Dakar podium. Son (Eryk), father (Marek) and uncle (Michal), each behind the wheel of a vehicle, accelerating everything in the world’s toughest team race EnergyLandia. That’s the name of the family-owned amusement park, located 50 km from Krakow. Largest in the country. The Goczal They own other businesses, such as the largest nightclub in Poland, the Energy2000. You see, when they do something, they tend to do it in a big way. His commitment to the Dakar will not be less.
Business successes allowed Marek to enjoy his love of motorsport again after putting it on hold to focus on work. And now, his son and his younger brother are reaping the fruits of his efforts and business vision.
New world gem
Eryk, Marek’s son and Michal’s nephew, is considered by many to be one of the most promising pilots in the world of raids. The new world gem. It is not for less. It debuted at the 2022 Baja Dubai with victory with Catalan co-pilot Oriol Mena. And in his first Dakar in 2023 in the T4 (now SSV) class, the youngest Dakar driver, aged 18, made history by winning the title with Oriol.
“Eryk exceeded expectations. We won 4 stages and we achieved the 4th stage scratch ahead of many cars. What more could we ask for?Mena tearfully told MD at the last finish line of the Dakar 2023, a year ago, thinking they had finished second.
“This pilot is incredible. He’s the nicest person I’ve ever met in a car. For an 18-year-old, his mind is very well structured and much better than most people’s. Many have seen his way of acting, managing emotions and treating people. More than one focused on him. A star is born”, he highlighted. That’s when they found out the surprise: His rival for the victory suffered a problem 50 km from the finish line. They became champions. Madness broke out.
I don’t know if I should continue driving.
A year later, they jump to the next category, Challenger (formerly T3), before a more likely definitive move to the car category. But Eryk, in 2023 Dakar, is not sure if he will return this year. “One reason he gave me was the following: ‘I don’t make money from the car, I will make money from working, and at work I have to study.’ I am thinking of going to Genoa for four years to start a degree in Business Management. And then back to racing cars,’” Mena reveals about what Eryk told her in 2023.
The co-pilot of CanyamarsLives in Argentina, he didn’t know if he would ever return to Goczal’s side. It depends on the pilot’s decision. Finally, Eryk was a few tenths away from the access mark for those studies, and now, At the same time he runs a construction company with more than 40 workers. At 19 years old, he was studying at the University of Krakow. Doing this next to home made it easier for him to continue his sports career. And he picked up the phone again to call Mena.
So he returned to Dakar 2024 with the Catalan co-driver, this time with a T3 with gears, a Taurus, to prepare to jump cars. They did it with little time to spare and things did not go well in the Morocco Rally. The Goczal family even considered not competing because they also exceeded their budget forecast. But finally, after 3,500 tests in Morocco, they once again faced the toughest test in the world. And in his first year in the Challenger class (formerly T3), Eryk shines once again.
The young talent battled his father and uncle for the first two stages of Dakar 2024. He won both of them against his two relatives and also won the prologue stage. Three in a row. And after three stages he was the overall leader of the category. Brutal.
“It was a real family battle. After refueling, it was great, the best of the race! I gave everything in the last kilometers, the car was really pushing the limit”he said at the end of stage 2, after his third consecutive victory.
“It is a very unique situation for our family: there are three of us with my son and my brother, from two generations. There is no other team like this in Dakar! This is our family passion, we know how to play as a team to win it. ANDThe goal is always the same: win all stages! We can exchange victories with Eryk and Michał, but it is important that the victories stay with the team. The next goal, as I have been repeating for years, is to get the entire podium for the Energylandia Rally Team”, Marek said in the statements on the Dakar website, since 2023, he was able to share the podium with his son in 3rd place. However, Michal was unable to climb into the box.
They want a family podium. All three of them have trophies. In this course, they were on track, but in stage 3, Michal suffered a problem that caused him to lose more than an hour and 40 minutes. He will be able to continue his career and backpack his brother and nephew in search of something historic.
“Eryk is a hope”
“Eryk is a hope, a young promise, for whom things are easier. Everyone wants to bet on him who won last year. after showing his skills as a pilot and tester and the information he can send you to modify the car. “This is the future of raids and it’s becoming clearer to me every day.”, the Catalan made sure to ‘copy’ MD before the Dakar 2024, certainly the goal should be “to win” and warned that his Taurus is very fast. An Oriol whose eyes sparkled every time he spoke of Eryk made no mistake.
The Goczal family crossed Oriol’s path at the right time. His relationship with his previous pilot, Rokas Baciuskawas not good at Dakar 2022. In that same edition, the Goczal family sought him out to sign him thinking about Eryk’s debut at Dakar 2023.
“We met on the marathon stage of my first Dakar in SSV with Rokas Baciuska. They called me to come to their motorhome. They told me that Eryk will be 18 next year, that he is not yet and that they want me to be his co-driver. I told them this is not the time to talk.if we can talk after Dakar. At the same award ceremony in Dakar they came to talk to me. And by the following Wednesday I had an email with a written proposal,” expressed. They like Oriol for his good navigation experience, which he made clear in his motorcycle participations in 2018 (best rookie and 7th finish), 2019 (10th) and 2021 (15th) in the most difficult that test the world.
After this, he decided to move to the ‘seat of fear’ in light vehicles to pursue a career as a co-pilot. Every ‘kopi’ wants to find a young project that will ensure work for many years, and above all, have a chance to succeed, always fighting for success in all categories.
“It’s hard to find a good place. I was very lucky that when I made the change from motorcycles to cars I asked for help. Gerard Farrés and Oscar Lanza. They opened the doors for me, the path, they made my job easier and I think it was the key that opened the doors for me to be here. Then the results helped me a lot. I went with very good pilots, so not all the work was mine. It’s a team. ANDLast year’s Dakar I didn’t enjoy as much as I should have for reasons that don’t need to be mentioned, but I enjoyed this Dakar.”.
Goczal is the future project that many want. You can make history.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
