DUBAI: Sebastien Loeb has set his sights on a landmark victory for Bahrain Raid Xtreme in the Dakar Rally in 萝莉视频 as he looks to build on the team鈥檚 record-breaking achievement in last year鈥檚 event.
Partnered by Fabian Lurquin in the Prodrive Hunter, Loeb takes BRX into the team鈥檚 fourth Dakar, which starts with Friday鈥檚 28-km prologue in AlUla, and is determined to better their second-place finishes from the past two editions of motorsport鈥檚 biggest adventure.
The BRX crew produced a stunning performance in the BRX Prodrive Hunter at 2023 Dakar, taking 50 percent of the stage victories and a record-breaking six stage wins in succession.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had some good results together with Prodrive, but for me, the Dakar is my target,鈥 said Loeb. 鈥淭o make the best over the big stages, Fabian and I will work hand in hand to have the speed, the correct navigation and avoid mechanical problems.
鈥淗owever, the Dakar always has some 鈥榟idden things鈥 at any time, so we鈥檒l piece these together over the huge adventure that this rally always is. I鈥檓 looking forward to it.鈥
With nine World Rally Championship crowns and an impressive set of accolades under his belt from Le Mans and X Games to Touring Cars, Loeb is as motivated as ever as he looks to steer BRX to a first Dakar triumph.
Opening the 2024 World Rally-Raid Championship, the fifth Dakar Rally to be staged in 萝莉视频 is set to provide another grueling test of endurance and technical engineering for the teams.
Over two weeks, a route of nearly 8,000 km includes 12 stages as the rally traverses the Kingdom from northwest to southeast and back again for the finish at Yanbu on the coast of the Red Sea.
The organizers have laid out a taxing route over the tracks in the north of the Empty Quarter, where dunes cover an area the size of France.
This time, the event includes an extra-long 鈥48-hour Chrono鈥 stage at the mid-point, with 600 km to be covered over two days in pure dunes, with service allowed only by the drivers and crew from the BRX race trucks at the overnight bivouac.
Looking ahead to the start, David Richards, founder and chairman of Prodrive, said: 鈥淚f I turn the clock back and think to when we started this program with Bahrain and remember how much work has gone into our Rally Raid program, I have to say I鈥檓 very proud of what we have achieved.鈥澛
The BRX Prodrive Hunter will arrive at the start of its fourth Dakar with further developments and utilizing sustainable fuel to power through the stages in Saudi.
With no major changes made to the set-up of the engine to accommodate the biofuel created from agricultural waste, the car will again emit 80 percent less CO2 from the 3.5-liter V6 twin-turbo engine during the rally.
