Floor Maten: The woman behind Taurus

The Dakar Rally is the one race that never forgives. It breaks cars, exposes weak teams, and punishes anything that isn't built for the real world And this year, when the dust finally settled, one name stood above the rest.

TAURUS. FIRST. SECOND. THIRD. FOURTH.

A clean sweep at the very top of Dakar's Challenger category and proof that this project is no longer "the new kid." It's the benchmark. At the center of that rise is Floor Maten, the person quietly holding the entire operation together - from production and logistics in the Netherlands to real-time support when the race is at its harshest.

For us it's like Taurus factory. We produce all the parts and all the cars in Markelo, a small village in the Netherlands. We built 50 cars in the last two years.

My job is to make sure that we have guys in the workshop to build the cars on the peak moments, that we manage it well with the hours we need to spend, that we have all the parts in stock, all the suppliers delivering in time, that the necessary quality checks are done, that the assemblies are done in time. It's basically running the project, the logistics in the project.

HOW TAURUS TOOK OVER CHALLENGER

Before, the T3 category was dominated by the Can-Am X3. Then the MCE-5 appeared at the Andalucia Rally 2022. built by a French company, and by Dakar 2023 there was already one car on the start line with Mitch Guthrie behind the wheel

In 2023 the project moved to Wevers Sport to the Netherlands, and that's when it became known as Taurus. In 2024 we already had nine cars at the start, followed by 17 cars in 2025.

Now Taurus makes up nearly half of the category: there are 38 cars in total and Taurus is the biggest brand in the field

Mitch Guthrie has been with Taurus from the very beginning, and he's done quite a lot of rallies and races in the car. But the first Dakar victory came in 2024 with Cristina Gutiérrez, on the final day. Mitch was leading until just 50 kilometers from the finish.

I felt a bit sorry because Mitch was part of the Wevers Sport team - everyone pushes so hard for the entire race, and then in the final 50 kilometers everything goes wrong.

In 2025. Taurus took the Dakar win with Nicolás Cavigliasso and Valentina Pertegarini, and in 2026 it was Pau Navarro and Jan Rosa.

TAURUS EVO

We introduced the Taurus EVO in 2025. It was an important step for the project, and during that period we had more engineers involved compared to normal because there was more development work going on.

For us, EVO is more about evolution than revolution. It's not one big visible change. but more a collection of improvements based on what we see during races and what we learn from our customers.

We always want to keep improving, because the goal is to stay on top - and to do that, you need to continue developing. working on performance, and making the car better step by step.

HOW OUR PROCESS WORKS

If a client orders a new Taurus, the waiting time really depends on the season. Summer is usually the busiest period, and if you place an order in May or June, the lead time can be round four to five months.

During the rest of the year, it's typically closer to two or three months to build the car and prepare everything.

In every case, we try to work as efficiently as possible, while making sure the car is finished with the right parts and the right quality.

We really try to have all spare parts in stock. That's one of the most important things for us, because our customers need quick solutions, not long waiting times.

That's also why we are continuously improving our online spare parts catalogue and webshop. The goal is to make the ordering process simple and fast, and to make sure parts can be delivered as quickly as posible.

If a customer places an order before 2 PM. our goal is to ship it the same day. For larger orders, we stay in direct contact with the customer to understand the urgency and plan the shipment in the most efficient way.

The process is fully digital Customers log in, select the parts they need, and place the order through the webshop.

As soon as the order comes in, we receive an email notification, create a pick list, and the warehouse team collects the parts using scanners.

Before the parcel leaves, we take photos of the parts to make sure everything is correct and complete. This helps us avoid mistakes and ensures the customer receives exactly what they ordered

WHY SUPPORT MATTERS

One of the main goals of the Taurus project is to give customers the support they need. That means quick replies to parts orders, but also engineering support.

We have engineers who can go to races with custorers if they apply for it. We also have an engineer here at Dakar to support the customers and to make it as easy as possible to perform at the best level we can - the best way the car can and the best way the team can.

We are really focused on improving and maintaining a high level of customer support.

I'm mainly around our truck at the Dakar. In this truck we have 600 or 650 different spare parts. The customers are supposed to bring their own spare parts packages, because we cant bring everything for 17 cars.

But in case they miss something, or in case they break something they didn't bring themselves, they can come here. That's basically why I'm here.

I'm here to see whats happening with the cars, and to see what we have to improve and what we can improve.

I also talk to the customers, to hear what they have to say about the car, about their das, about their race.