Legendary 40-Year-Old Dakar DAF to Run as Course Car at Baja Poland

The winners of last year’s Columna Medica Baja Poland in the SSV class, Tomasz Białkowski and Dariusz Baśkiewicz, are returning to the challenging stages of West Pomerania in a completely new role. This time, together with Adam Grodzki – the project’s initiator and crew’s mechanic – they will form the three-person crew of the course-opening “zero car.” They will present fans with a true motorsport legend: a twin-engine DAF 3300 from 1985, a machine that famously tamed the stages of the Dakar Rally 40 years ago.

Columna Medica Baja Poland 2025, a round of the FIA European Cup for Cross-Country Bajas, will not only be an arena for Europe’s top competitors but also the stage for a unique spectacle. Fans gathered along the special stages will have a rare opportunity to see a historic rally truck in action—a vehicle etched into the history of the world’s toughest marathon rally.

CHAMPIONS IN A NEW ROLE

Behind the wheel of the 11-ton truck will be Tomasz Białkowski and Dariusz Baśkiewicz, a crew well-known to off-road rally fans. The duo triumphed in the 2024 Columna Medica Baja Poland, winning the SSV category in the FIA World Cup round. This year, together with Adam Grodzki, they are taking on a challenge of an unimaginable scale. This time, they will be driving a 1985 DAF 3300—a machine with over 800 hp!

“It’s a bit like switching from the smallest vehicle you can enter in off-road rallies to probably the largest one there is,” says Dariusz Baśkiewicz, the crew’s navigator.

“The idea for this incredible project was born in the most natural place for the sport—at the Dakar Rally bivouac. We met Adam Grodzki there, a truck collector who dreamed of an entry like this. We connected instantly and moved from conversation to action, contacting the De Rooy team and finalizing the project,” he adds.

THE DAKAR LEGEND UP CLOSE

The 1985 DAF 3300 is a unique machine, the fruit of the engineering ingenuity of the Dutch DAF team and legendary driver Jan de Rooy. Powered by two engines with a combined output of nearly 800 hp, the truck was capable of reaching speeds of up to 200 km/h in the desert. One engine drives the front axle and the other the rear, giving this machine incredible capability in difficult terrain. Most importantly, the Kamena Rally Team crew will drive the exact same vehicle that Jan de Rooy used to take second place in the Paris-Dakar Rally 40 years ago. Its distinctive design, with a cut-off, coupe-style rear, earned this incredible vehicle the nickname “The Bull.”

The first encounter with the legend was an unforgettable experience for the crew. “When I climbed into the seat and saw the world from that height, from a completely different perspective, it made an incredible impression. When we fired it up and began to move, the feeling was simply cosmic,” recalls Dariusz Baśkiewicz.

THE DAF 3300 “BULL” IN NUMBERS:

2 – Number of engines powering the vehicle
~800 hp – Total power output of both engines
200 km/h – The potential top speed this vehicle could reach (unrestricted)
11.6 L – The displacement of each of the two engines
140 km/h – Maximum speed as limited by regulations
11 tons – The curb weight of the vehicle
1985 – The year this chassis finished second in the Paris-Dakar Rally

A DRESS REHEARSAL FOR DAKAR

For the Kamena Rally Team, participating in Columna Medica Baja Poland is a key stage in their preparations for next year’s Dakar Classic. Although the crew will not be classified in the sporting competition, they will cover the entire 350-kilometer route of special stages, including a demanding test on the Drawsko Pomorskie military proving grounds. It will be an invaluable test for the restored machine, logistics, and the crew’s coordination.

“We are very excited because this is a huge challenge for us. The vehicle is much larger, heavier, and has completely different parameters. We love difficult tasks, and our extensive rally experience will certainly be very helpful,” concludes Dariusz Baśkiewicz.

WHERE AND WHEN TO SEE THE LEGENDARY DAF

The historic truck will appear as the “zero car” on the route of each special stage of Columna Medica Baja Poland 2025, just before the first competitor starts.

Friday, August 29: