Sebastien Loeb has set his sights on a landmark victory for Bahrain Raid Xtreme in next month’s Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia as he looks to build on the team’s record-breaking achievement in this year’s edition back in January.
Partnered by Fabian Lurquin in the Prodrive Hunter, Loeb takes BRX into the team’s fourth Dakar starting on 5th January, and is determined to better their second place finishes from the past two editions of motorsport’s biggest adventure.
The BRX crew produced a stunning performance in the BRX Prodrive Hunter on the 2023 Dakar, taking 50% of the stage victories and a record breaking six stage wins in succession.
“We’ve had some good results together with Prodrive, but for me the Dakar is my target,” said Loeb. “To 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.
“However, the Dakar always has some ‘hidden things’ at any time, so we’ll piece these together over the huge adventure that this rally always is. I’m looking forward to it.”
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 Saudi Arabia will be another gruelling test of human endurance and technical engineering.
Over two weeks, a route of nearly 8,000 kilometres includes 12 stages as the rally traverses the Kingdom from north-west to south-east and back again for the finish at Yanbu on the coast of the Red Sea.
The organisers have laid out a taxing route over the tracks in the north to the sheer enormity of the Empty Quarter in the south, where dunes cover an area the size of France.
This time the event includes an extra-long ’48-hour Chrono’ stage at the mid-point, with 600kms 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: “If I turn the clock back and think to when we started this programme with Bahrain, and remember how much work has gone into our Rally Raid Programme, I have to say I’m very proud of what we have achieved.”
The BRX Prodrive Hunter will arrive at the start of its fourth Dakar with further developments and utilising 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% less CO2 emissions from the 3.5 litre V6 twin turbo engine during the rally.
Motor 283 is the biggest automotive website created by a team of automotive enthusiats and this author page is used to show the readers the press releases and news posted on Motor 283 website.
Formula E and the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) have today revealed the next generation of race car, the new all-electric GEN3 Evo, capable of 0-60mph in 1.82s.
Leveraging a roster of innovative technical upgrades, the GEN3 Evo unveiled at H.S.H Prince Albert II’s Private Car Collection will debut in Season 11 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship where some of the world’s greatest manufacturers and drivers race wheel-to-wheel in iconic locations around the globe.
Developed by specialists from Formula E and the FIA, the latest GEN3 Evo edition marks a significant leap in electric racing technology, with acceleration 0-60mph 30% faster than a current F1 car, and 36% faster than the GEN3 car.
Capable of accelerating nearly a full second faster than its predecessor – the GEN3 – that was the world’s first race car designed for street racing, it sets an even higher standard in performance, sustainability, and efficiency. The GEN3 Evo serves as a formidable ambassador for the future of motorsport, embodying cutting-edge advancements and a commitment to environmental responsibility.
On Saturday, April 27th, Abu Dhabi will host a groundbreaking event, welcoming 10,000 spectators to witness the inaugural ASPIRE Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL) at the iconic Yas Marina Circuit. This brand-new autonomous racing competition marks a significant milestone in motorsport history, billed as the largest league of its kind globally.
Eight teams will compete: Code19 Racing (one of the first independent autonomous racing entity from the USA), Constructor University (based in Germany and Switzerland), Fly Eagle (representing Beijing Institute of Technology from China and Khalifa University from the UAE), HUMDA Lab (a member of the Széchenyi István University Group from Hungary), KINETIZ (a collaboration between Singapore Nanyang Technological University and Kintsugi based in the UAE), PoliMOVE (representing Politecnico di Milano from Italy), UNIMORE (also from Italy - University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), and Technical University of Munich - TUM (from Germany), vying for a substantial prize purse of US$ 2.25 million.
Aston Martin’s new Vantage GT3 continues its hunt for glory in the world’s two most prestigious endurance racing series, as the FIA World Endurance Championship [WEC] and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship [IMSA] resume this weekend.
The WEC begins its European leg on Sunday with the 6 Hours of Imola (ITA), and an inaugural visit to one of the continent’s best-known circuits, before heading to Spa-Francorchamps (BEL) on 11 May, and then the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 15-16 June. Meanwhile IMSA heads to the world famous Long Beach street track for its first sprint race (100 minutes) of the season. A second-place finish in the brand-new LMGT3 class for the Heart of Racing (HoR), and third for D’station Racing, made Aston Martin the only one of the nine GT manufacturers present to score a WEC double podium finish at the season-opening 1812km of Qatar in March. It means both teams arrive in Italy in strong form.
SHARE
