Henk Lategan: Flat-strap on and off-road

Current South African Cross Country racing champion Henk Lategan learnt how to drive at the age of 13. It happened on a dirt farm road. Over the next two years, he learnt how to drive quickly on dirt roads, and entered for his first motorsport event – a rally sprint near Witbank. That led to him tackling a series of regional rallies in Gauteng at age 15, with his father Hein, a former circuit racing champion, rally driver and off road racing competitor, reading the
notes.

“I started to attend motorsport events with my family at the age of two, and there was never the slightest doubt about my eventual participation,” Lategan Junior says. “In 2007 regional rallying was strong, and there were five separate classes. My dad could purchase a competitive Toyota Tazz cheaply and I soaked up an enormous amount of rally knowledge with him by my side – among other things when not to go quickly on dirt,” he recalls. The latter lesson came with a price.

In 2007, Henk learnt about rallying in a Toyota Tazz, tackling the Inland regional series with his father Hein in the navigator’s seat. Picture: Dave Ledbitter

“I crashed a lot, which upset my dad, since race car drivers are particularly bad passengers. It must have pained my father enormously to sit and watch me getting things wrong and knowing we were soon going to hit unyielding objects, without him being able to anything about it.”

Things improved, and over the next five years Henk progressed through the ranks of National Championship Rallying with navigator Barry White, competing in S1400, S2000 Challenge and the premier S2000 class. In 2013 Henk was signed by the Sasol Volkswagen Rally team, and he competed the next two years, alongside team-mates like Enzo Kuun, Hergen Fekken, Gugu Zulu and Thilo Himmel.

When Volkswagen withdrew from rallying at the end of 2015, Henk took a sabbatical from South African motorsport. Instead, his father purchased a Skoda Fabia for him, and he tackled numerous WRC and international rallies which included events in Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, Hungary, the UK and Monte Carlo.

Between 2013 and 2015 Henk drove for the Sasol Volkswagen team in the top class of local rallying. Picture: Dave Ledbitter

“At the time, I had to learn how to be quick on tar roads, and I purchased a Rotax Max kart in South Africa to help me – there is nothing like going back to basics to improve your skills'” Hemk says. He returned to local participation in 2017, when Neil Woolridge Motorsport invited him to drive one of their Class T Ford Rangers in the South African Cross Country series.

“It was another steep learning curve, in terms of stamina, dedicated focus and teamwork. I was extremely proud to finish sixth in the Overall Production Vehicle standings.” In 2018 Lategan was signed to drive a FIA Class Hilux bakkie for the Gazoo Toyota team, with him and navigator Barry White finishing second in that year’s overall Production Vehicle championship. Last year Lategan went one better, and he clinched the title overall, alongside navigator and previous Dakar motorcycle competitor Brett Cummings.

Along with the rest of the South African motorsport community, Henk is in limbo at the moment, living at home in Midstream Estate between Johannesburg and Pretoria with wife Inante and three-month-old baby boy Heinrich. At the age of 26, he works in IT development for the SAC Commercial Parts company, while using a tough home exercise programme and dirt bicycle riding to keep fit.

Between 2015 and 2017, Henk drove a Skoda Fabia in numerous WRC and international rallies which included events in Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, Hungary, the UK and Monte Carlo.

Does he prefer cross country racing to rallying? “It is difficult to say – the two categories have drifted far apart over the years. In terms of straight adrenaline, rallying must come out on top, because accurate pace notes have made for incredibly quick stage driving. You are flat out everywhere, but then you get to relax between special stages.

“Cross Country racing, on the other hand, combines many different facets – the adrenalin rush, total exhaustion, teamwork, sheer determination and unparalleled camaraderie.  It has taught me a great deal about myself in a very short space of time,” Lategan says.

Last year Henk and Brett Cummings took the overall South African Production Vehicle title in the Gazoo Toyota Hilux. Picture: Nadia Jordaan

He laments the fact that local rallying and circuit racing has declined at national level in recent years. “It has just become too expensive, which always results in a decrease in the number of competitors. The powers that be should be worried every time a privateer competitor leaves motorsport, because they are the people who carry the Adrenaline Game, and without them, the top teams will no longer have a playing field,” he says.

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