YunXiang Racing is one of the largest rally raid teams in the People’s Republic of China.
The team will enter three Prodrive Hunter T1+ cars in national and FIA World Rally Raid Championship events.
23 May 2023, Banbury, UK. Prodrive has partnered with YunXiang Racing as its ‘Official Rally Raid Partner’ in China. The agreement includes the Banbury based outfit initially providing three of its Hunter T1+ all-terrain vehicles to YunXiang, one of the largest rally raid teams in the People’s Republic of China situated in a state-of-the-art facility, including a test track, in Ordos City, (Ih Ju), one of the twelve major subdivisions of Inner Mongolia.
YunXiang Racing plans to compete in national rally competitions across China with the Prodrive Hunter T1+ vehicles as well as FIA World Rally Raid Championship (W2RC) events, including the world renowned Dakar Rally. The first YunXiang Hunter T1+ has travelled thousands of kilometres to contest the 2023 China Taklimakan Rally with Sun Ping (driver) and Liao Min (co-driver). Widely regarded as the longest off-road endurance race in Asia, the China Taklimakan Rally starts in the north-western region of Xinjiang Uygu Chinese province. Since its inception in 2005, it has gained a reputation as one of the most demanding races on the planet, with a gruelling distance of approximately 4,500 kilometres and treacherous terrain on a route which passes through the Gobi Desert, past snow-capped mountains, and the ‘yardang’ escarpment landforms that are synonymous with the area.
Two further cars are being built for the Chinese squad for later this year, with Prodrive supporting the team in the short term with technicians and engineers while they get to grips with running the all-terrain challengers. The long-term plan is for YunXiang Racing, in its capacity as ‘Official Rally Raid Partner’ in China, to lease further Prodrive Hunter T1+ cars to other motorsport teams.
Prodrive’s partnership with YunXiang becomes the second in its portfolio of Rally Raid Partner teams which began with the announcement of its collaboration with X Rally Team (Brazil) at the Sonora Rally, Mexico earlier this month. The Prodrive Motorsport division, which also runs fellow Prodrive Hunter T1+ competitors Bahrain Raid Xtreme (BRX) who, with nine-times world rally champion Sébastien Loeb, won a record six consecutive stage wins on the Dakar this year, plans to collaborate with more partners located in each of the main rally raid markets of China, Latin America, and Europe.
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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.