The 2024 Dakar Rally was one of the biggest motorsport challenges that Prodrive has undertaken in its 40 year history. Forty-four personnel from its Head Quarters in Banbury, UK, supported the two-car entry of Sebastian Loeb and Nasser Al-Attiyah, plus 14 in further support of Prodrive Rally Raid Partner teams - X Rally Team (Brazil) and YunXiang China.
A total of seven Prodrive Hunter cars competed in the new Ultimate Class of the 46th edition of the Dakar, the 5th to be organised in Saudi Arabia, which covered more than 4,700 kilometres of special stages and a total distance of almost 8,000 kilometres. The event is the ultimate test for all participants and spanned from the ancient city of AlUla in the North to the oceans of dunes in the Empty Quarter over the past two weeks.
Sébastien Loeb and co-driver Fabian Lurquin took their fifth stage win of the event in the final Stage 12, to secure their third consecutive podium finish since Prodrive first entered the Dakar in 2021.
The Prodrive Hunter challengers of Cristian Baumgart/ Beco Andreotti (X Rally Team) and Zi Yungang/Pan Hong Yu (YunXiang China Team) both completed the epic marathon to collect Finishers Medals at the closing ceremony in Yanbu last Friday afternoon.
Reigning Champion Nasser Al-Attiyah, with co-driver Mathieu Baumel, had set his sights on a sixth Dakar victory in his Nasser Racing by Prodrive entry, however despite a stage win bringing his total Dakar stage wins tally to 48, he announced his premature retirement on day 10 of the event.
Sébastien Loeb, Bahrain Raid Xtreme (Third Place Overall)
“It feels good to be on the podium, for sure, as after 15 days we wanted to fight for the victory, but we lost chances here and there as the Dakar threw us what Dakar always does as a surprise. On Stage 11 we thought we were going home, but then we were back in the rally and battling for the podium again. We don’t have any regrets, we tried hard, and at the end it’s good to be at the finish line and on the podium again.”
Beco Andreotti, X Rally Team
“The Dakar is a marathon event which brings everyone to their maximum. We had a lot of fun, and we learned a lot, which is very important. Our main goal entering the Dakar was to learn to be faster, learn navigation, learn all of the logistics and infrastructure that the team did - and it was a great pleasure to be here. With support from Prodrive engineers and mechanics within our own team it was truly an enjoyable mix.
Unfortunately, Marco [Baumgart] and Kleber [Cinea] were not able to finish with us in their Hunter, but this is racing. You can have a good day and have a bad day in one second, so we are very happy to finish eighth overall in the FIA World Rally Raid Championship, which is a better position than we had anticipated at this stage. Thanks again to everyone at Prodrive.”
Ka Chun Yu, Team Manager, YunXiang China
“It was a good event for Yunxiang Racing as it was the first time we have come to Dakar. We had a one car finish out of three, which is a good result, and it was a very good experience. We will continue to work on other rally events with Prodrive this year and are very happy that we have joined their big Rally Raid family. For next Dakar we shall continue for sure! I believe we have the best car with the Hunter. This is very important – it is very fast and easy to drive, we just need to train our drivers to be more careful at such a difficult event and not crash! But this is Dakar, the biggest rally in the world, the most difficult rally in the world and personally I very much enjoyed it as it was my 13th Dakar, but this was the best event and in the best car, in my opinion, over the years I have participated.”
Gus Betelli, Team Principal, Prodrive Rally Raid
“What an end to the 2024 Dakar. With five stage wins out of 12, we were fighting all the way and we left nothing on the table. We have to be pleased with the overall result. With Seb [Loeb] and Fabian [Lurquin] on the podium for the BRX Team three years in a row, X Rally Team finishing the event with Cristian [Baumgart] and Beco [Andreotti] sitting in eighth place in the Championship, and our latest partners, Yunxiang China completing their first event with the Prodrive Hunter it is a shame that we could not make it four out of four teams with Nasser and Mathieu also taking the finish. We have an exciting year ahead of us at Prodrive, and we look forward to returning to Dakar next year.”
David Richards, Prodrive Chairman
“For Prodrive to turn up at Dakar with seven cars is something extraordinary. To get to the start line alone was an exceptional team effort, but to keep them running during the event with only a few unfortunate issues on a couple of the cars is a great credit to everybody.
It is impossible to explain to people how challenging, tough and extraordinary this event unless you are here and you have experienced it, and for the team here working day and night for the last two weeks it was a herculean task. Dakar is still, in terms of winning a motorsport event, the last mountain we have to climb and I guess we’ll just have to come back next year to do so.”
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About Prodrive
Prodrive is one of the world’s largest and most successful motorsport and technology businesses. Over 500 staff are employed across its Banbury headquarters and composites manufacturing facility in Milton Keynes. While the company is perhaps best known for motorsport, today it is just one part of an organisation that in the last decade has diversified to become a technology business working in a range of sectors and providing a range of services. Within the Prodrive Group, there are four distinct but interconnected business areas: Motorsport, operating race and rally programmes for vehicle manufacturers and global brands; Advanced Technology, providing innovative technology for the automotive, aerospace, defence, and marine sectors; Composites, developing lightweight composite components for the automotive, aerospace and marine sectors; and Brand& developing bespoke clothing and accessories for leading brands.