► Dacia joins Dakar in 2025
► Partners with Prodrive
► Al-Attiyah joins Loeb et al
Dacia has signed up five-time Dakar Rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah to join its fledgling rally-raid team.
He will race alongside Sébastien Loeb and Cristina Gutiérrez Herrero and joins for testing in 2024, ahead of the official FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (WR2C) from 2025.
Outdoorsy brand Dacia announced it would participate as a manufacturer in the T1+ category, with the Dacia Factory program working with Prodrive for its development expertise. Dacia also says that its entry will run on synthetic fuel from Aramco, with the first prototypes planning to be tested during the 2024 season.
The fact that Dacia is joining with Prodrive is an interesting, as it leads us to believe that Dacia will use a modified version of Prodrive’s Hunter racer.
Naturally, Dacia’s CEO, Denis Le Vot, is convinced that joining a deeply challenging and complicated motorsport matches with a brand known for its values of value and simplicity. ‘Dacia and Dakar are a perfect match!’ he says, adding that joining the sport ‘is showing of our commitment to low-carbon mobility; we are very excited to take part in Dakar with synthetic fuel technology.’